Department of Health and Social Care

Health Education: Young People

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect of the Facts4Life programme on health education for young people; and if he plans to roll out the pilot across the UK.

Steve Brine: The Facts4Life programme is a local training programme in the Gloucestershire area. The Secretary of State has made no assessment of the effect the programme has on health education for young people, and has no current plans to roll out the programme across the United Kingdom.

Medical Treatments: Innovation

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effect on the public purse of the UK entering the top quartile of comparator countries for the speed of adoption and overall uptake of innovative treatments.

Steve Brine: The proposal for the United Kingdom to move to the upper quartile of comparator countries for the uptake of innovative medicines by 2023 was a strategic goal of the Life Science Industrial Strategy report to the Government by Sir John Bell. The Government supports the ambition to maximise the appropriate use of uptake of innovative treatments in the National Health Service, and work is currently underway to develop appropriate metrics to support this. Current metrics on the use of medicines in the UK compared to other countries is published annually in the Office for Life Sciences, Life Science Competitiveness Indicators using a methodology devised by the Office for Health Economics and data of medicine use from IQVIA. The indicator compares the average per capita level of uptake compared to other Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries.

NHS: Crimes of Violence

Dr Dan Poulter: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many healthcare staff have been physically attacked or assaulted at (a) Ipswich Hospital, (b) other healthcare provider settings in Suffolk and (c) other healthcare provider settings in England in each year since 2015.

Stephen Barclay: In 2015/16, the number of staff physically attacked or assaulted at:- Ipswich Hospital was 115 involving medical factors1 and eight not involving medical factors;- In other healthcare settings in Suffolk2 the number was 1,189 involving medical factors and 503 not involving medical factors; and- In other healthcare provider settings in England the number was 52,704 involving medical factors and 17,851 not involving medical factors. Employers from across the National Health Service will collect data on physical assaults, and working alongside local police are responsible for protecting their staff. The Department is working with NHS England and NHS Improvement on new arrangements to support NHS and primary care employers to “…take vigorous and immediate action against those who abuse or attack the people who work for and make our NHS”. Notes: 1Assaults involving medical factors are the number of physical assaults where the perpetrator did not know what they were doing, or did not know what they were doing was wrong due to medical illness, mental ill health, severe learning disability or treatment administered. 2The data, extracted from NHS Protect’s “Reported Physical Assaults data for 2015/16 for healthcare settings in Suffolk includes Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust, Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust and East of England Ambulance Trust. Some of the trusts geographical areas cover more than just Suffolk.

NHS: Data Protection

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the cost of the requirement to respond to subject access requests free of charge after 25 May 2018 under the General Data Protection Regulation for (a) Acute Trusts (b), Mental Health Trusts, (c) GP practices and (d) the NHS as a whole.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department has not made any assessment of the cost of responding to subject access requests under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The United Kingdom is reviewing its data protection legislation in light of the GDPR. The Data Protection Bill is currently going through Parliament. Once it is enacted it will become the new Data Protection Act. It will implement the GDPR from May 2018. Article 12(5) of the GDPR refers to the rights of the data subject when requesting their information and that this is provided free of charge. Data controllers that process personal data will be required to comply with subject access requests in this way. There are provisions in the GDPR and the Data Protection Bill, as there are currently under the Data Protection Act 1998, to charge or refuse a request should it be considered manifestly unreasonable or repeated. However, these should be considered on a case by case basis and considered in line with guidance provided by the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Minor Injuries Units: Cornwall

Steve Double: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to utilise the role of NHS minor injury units in (a) St. Austell and (b) Newquay to reduce pressures on A&E departments in Cornwall.

Stephen Barclay: Community-based services, which include minor injuries units, urgent treatment centres and minor injury services provided by general practitioners and pharmacists, play an important role in making sure people can access the appropriate services when and where they need them. Minor injury units (MIUs) across Cornwall have treated over 86,000 people during the past financial year and during the last three months, MIUs in the Cornwall area have treated nearly 25,000 patients. Of those, just over 3,000 were treated at St Austell and just over 1,500 at Newquay. Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust has a protocol in place which enables resources to be shared between St Austell and Newquay MIUs. In addition, partnership arrangements are in place between the National Health Service and the local council to use the Better Care Fund to provide a range of services including: generic support workers; improved community bed capacity, and more flexible and responsive domiciliary care to ensure that patient assessments and re-ablement are carried out in the most appropriate, out-of-hospital setting. Locally, the NHS has extensively promoted the use of all community based services, including support from pharmacists, self-care and the importance of having the flu jab.

Soft Drinks: Children

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to assess the potential merits of introducing a ban on energy drinks for people under 16 years of age.

Steve Brine: I refer the Rt hon. Member to the answer I gave the hon. Member for West Lancashire on 15 January 2018 to Questions 121787 and 121788.

Obesity: Children

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department plans to offer dietary education programmes to children and parents to help curb childhood obesity.

Steve Brine: We recognise that consumer education is an important aspect of our childhood obesity plan and we are continuing to support Public Health England’s flagship Change4Life social marketing campaign which encourages children and families to eat well, move more and live longer. Recent Change4Life nutrition campaigns have provided practical information to parents on healthier snacking and on the sugar, salt and saturated fat content of everyday food and drink. Campaigns include direct to parent communications via the media and close partnership working, including with primary schools across England, other Government departments, the National Health Service, local authorities, businesses and charities. Maintained schools already teach children about food, nutrition and healthy eating and how to cook a repertoire of dishes as part of the national curriculum. The primary and secondary science curriculum also includes content about what constitutes a healthy diet. For example, this includes the importance of eating the right amounts of different types of food, the impact of diet on the way our bodies work and the consequences of an imbalanced diet. Alongside this, schools are encouraged to use the School Fruit and Vegetables Scheme, which contributes towards the recommended five portions a day, as an opportunity to educate children about fruit and vegetables and to assist a healthy, balanced diet.

Diabetes: Medical Equipment

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there are plans to ensure that the FreeStyle Libre flash glucose monitoring system is available to all people with diabetes.

Steve Brine: Freestyle Libre has been approved for reimbursement on National Health Service prescription from 1 November through listing in Part IX of the England and Wales Drug Tariff. The Drug Tariff is a price list, and the listing of Freestyle Libre should not be interpreted as a recommendation to prescribe it. Patients will need to discuss the ongoing management of their condition with their healthcare professional and consider whether flash glucose monitoring is suitable for them. NHS England has established four Regional Medicines Optimisation Committees (RMOC) that are responsible for providing guidance on the use of drugs and other technologies that are not being assessed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. The RMOC (North) has issued guidance on the use of Freestyle Libre suggesting a careful start to its use and data collection to better understand the benefits. The Committee’s recommendations are available in full at: https://www.sps.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Flash-Glucose-monitoring-System-RMOC-Statement-final-2.pdf

Diabetes: Nurses

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether there are plans to introduce a Diabetes Specialist Nurses qualification to ensure standardisation of care for people with diabetes.

Stephen Barclay: There are currently no national plans to introduce a Diabetes Specialist Nurses qualification. Diabetes nurse training is currently available as part of a post graduate course offered by a number of universities which would be funded locally as part of on-going continuous professional development. It is the responsibility of the Nursing and Midwifery Council to set the required standards for nurse practice in order for qualifications to be recognised on the nursing register.

Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many hospitals and care centres operate a newly diagnosed support and care programme for people with diabetes.

Steve Brine: Data on how many hospitals and care centres operate a newly diagnosed support and care programme for people with diabetes is not centrally held.

Chronic Illnesses

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to make it easier for people with (a) diabetes and (b) other chronic conditions to access their patient records.

Steve Brine: General practitioner (GP) practices offer access to detailed coded records to their patients upon request and steps have been taken to improve this process. NHS England is encouraging practices to actively offer access to records to patients with long term conditions such as diabetes; the Royal College of General Practitioners has been commissioned to develop guidance for GPs on how to offer access to records to their patients most effectively; and the Empower the Patient portfolio, part of the Personalised Health and Care 2020 portfolio, aims to improve access to patient records for patients or their representatives.

Food: Labelling

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on ensuring that food labelling for products aimed at children is accurate, clear and accessible for children and young people.

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussion he has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on steps to improve the clarity and accessibility of food labelling.

Steve Brine: My Rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has not had any recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on food labelling for children, young people or adults. There are ongoing discussions between Officials in the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on the labelling of food and drink.

NHS: Fees and Charges

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his letter to the hon. Member for Tottenham of 9 January 2018, when he is planning to review the effect of upfront charging in the NHS and extending charges to out-of-hospital care and care provided by non NHS organisations.

Stephen Barclay: Following the commencement of the National Health Service (Charges to Overseas Visitors) (Amendment) Regulations 2017 (the “amendment regulations”), in line with the continuing public sector equalities duty, and also recognising concerns that have been raised by stakeholders regarding the introduction of the amendment regulations, the Department has begun a review of the impact of the changes introduced by the amendment regulations. The Department is working with arm’s length bodies and stakeholders to review the impact of the amendment regulations in respect of upfront charging, patient records, community services and non-NHS providers, with a particular focus on the extent to which there are any unintended consequences on delivery of care in the community for the most vulnerable, and how any such unintended consequences could be addressed. The Department will provide an update to stakeholders once the review is completed (likely in spring 2018), and will set out any further action that is considered necessary following the review.

General Practitioners

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to simplify funding streams for general practice.

Steve Brine: NHS England is responsible for payments to general practices for the provision of National Health Service primary medical services. The majority of general practitioner practices operate under General Medical Service (GMS) contract arrangements. Typically, at least half of the money that a GMS practice receives is in the form of the ‘global sum’, derived through the Carr-Hill Formula. NHS England is working with the British Medical Association to review the Carr-Hill funding formula for general practice and has begun a review of the Quality and Outcomes Framework. Implementation of any changes will need careful planning so that they do not threaten stability or cause financial uncertainty for practices.

Gray Zone Lymphoma

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what guidance  NICE has issued on gray zone lymphoma.

Steve Brine: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence has not published any guidance on the treatment of gray zone lymphoma nor is it in the topic selection process for technology appraisals and highly specialised technologies guidance.

Gray Zone Lymphoma

Royston Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what public funds are available to treat patients suffering from gray zone lymphoma.

Steve Brine: Clinical commissioning groups take decisions on how their National Health Service budgets are spent on commissioning services to meet the needs of local populations, including those for gray zone lymphoma.

Department of Health and Social Care: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many contracts his Department holds with government strategic suppliers.

Stephen Barclay: The Department holds seven contracts with Government strategic suppliers.

Hospitals: West Yorkshire

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2018 to Question 121387, on hospitals: West Yorkshire, if he will provide that data from 1 December 2017.

Stephen Barclay: NHS England’s statistics publication plan can be accessed online at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/12-months-statistics-calendar/ It confirms that cancelled elective operations data for Quarter 3 2017-18 (which includes December 2017 data) will be published on 8 February 2018. All published quarterly performance data on cancelled elective operations, which includes national, regional and provider level activity, is available at: https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/cancelled-elective-operations/cancelled-ops-data/

Dental Services

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many Units of Dental Activity were delivered in (a) Bury North constituency, (b) Greater Manchester and (c) England in each of the last five years.

Steve Brine: The following table shows the information available on number of units of dental activity delivered for Bury Local Authority, Greater Manchester and England. Data is available for Bury Local Authority, Greater Manchester for 2013/14 to 2016/17 and England for 2012/13 to 2016/17. Data is not available broken down by constituency. YearBury Local AuthorityGreater Manchester1England2016-17320,5784,952,82185,731,3042015-16337,9424,985,11986,350,8972014-15336,1604,978,64187,220,8912013-14334,6394,985,36488,691,4342012-13--88,097,804Source: NHS Digital Note: 1Greater Manchester is defined as the following local authorities: Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale, Salford, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford and Wigan.

Dentistry: Migrant Workers

James Frith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many overseas qualified dentists are waiting for a Performer Number by country of origin; and what the the average waiting time has been to receive such a number in each of the last three years.

Steve Brine: Information is not held centrally on the number of dentists who qualified overseas who are waiting for a Performer Number or on the average turnaround time for applications to join the National Dental Performers List.

Thyroid Gland: Drugs

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that medicines approved for patients with thyroid conditions are competitively priced.

Steve Brine: The costs of branded medicine are controlled by the Pharmaceutical Price Regulation Scheme and the statutory scheme for branded medicines. For unbranded generic medicines, the Department encourages competition between suppliers to keep prices down. In primary care, community pharmacies are incentivised to source products at the lowest possible cost and in secondary care, competitive tenders ensure value-for-money to the National Health Service. Where competition does not appear to be working, the Department alerts the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Where the CMA finds that a company has breached competition law by charging excessive prices, it can impose a fine as well as order companies to reduce their prices. In those instances the Department can and does seek damages and invests that money back into the NHS.

Prisons: Drugs

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to treat and support prisoners who are addicted to psychoactive substances.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England is working closely with Her Majesty's Prison and Probation Service to ensure establishment-level resilience to psychoactive substances, through a co-ordinated approach to both supply reduction and demand reduction. The UK Drug Misuse and Dependence Clinical Guidelines were recently updated by an independent expert working group, following a public consultation. The guidelines were published in July 2017. The Guidelines require that (as a part of a comprehensive assessment) there is confirmation of use of psychoactive substances and identification of the degree of problem use or dependence. This would usually be followed by abstinence-oriented psychosocial interventions. The Guidelines are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/673978/clinical_guidelines_2017.pdf NHS England is due to publish the revised prison Substance Misuse Service Specification shortly. This specification modernises and updates expectations in relation to the management of individuals with drug-related issues, including specifically, responses to psychoactive substances. The responses range from helping to build resilience to prevent use, management during acute intoxication (including ambulance transfer to acute hospital setting), psychosocial interventions and longer term strategies to prevent and avoid use.

Prescription Drugs: Packaging

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of re-packaging unused medication that has been returned to pharmacies to reduce waste in the health sector.

Steve Brine: The Government does not promote the reuse of medicines that have left the pharmacy and returned to a pharmacy by patients, as it is not possible to guarantee the quality of a returned medicine on physical inspection alone. When medicines are returned from patients’ homes, there is no way of knowing how the medicines have been stored in people’s homes. The July 2017 edition of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s ‘Medicines, Ethics and Practice – The professional guide for pharmacists’ states that patients should be advised that unused, unwanted medicines should be returned to a pharmacy for safe disposal.

Medical Treatments

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many patients in the last three years have been referred by their GP for elective care but have been refused treatment due to clinical commissioning group policies to restrict access to treatment because a patient (a) has a BMI of more than 30 and (b) is a smoker.

Steve Brine: Information on how many patients who have been referred by their general practitioner for elective care but have been refused treatment due to clinical commissioning group policies to restrict access to treatment because a patient has a Body Mass Index of more than 30 and is a smoker is not held centrally.

Carillion

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what analysis he has made of the exposure of NHS trusts to the liquidation of Carillion.

Stephen Barclay: Carillion provides facilities management services to 13 National Health Service trusts through subcontracts with Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project companies. Carillion is also building two NHS hospitals under PFI contracts. The Department and the hospital regulator NHS Improvement have been helping trusts supplied by Carillion with planning and will continue to work intensively with trusts over the coming days to minimise disruption. The Government is committed to maintain public services and has an agreement with the Official Receiver to ensure that Carillion workers in public sector contracts will continue to be paid. The contracts between the trusts and PFI Companies are still in place, which means that each PFI Company is still contractually obliged to manage the projects and find another construction or facilities management services subcontractor who can continue to deliver the services and building work. The PFI Companies are currently in discussions with PWC (on behalf of the official receiver), their lenders and with other service and construction companies to assess how best to continue delivering these contracts. Three NHS trusts also directly contract Carillion (ie outside of PFI contracts) to provide facilities management services and car parking management. Each NHS trust with a direct contract may, at any given point in time, have amounts owing to or withheld from Carillion on the basis of the contract’s provisions. This data is not collected centrally. The Department has no direct contracts with Carillion. In addition, Carillion provide maintenance services to a number of NHS LIFT Companies. The NHS LIFT Companies have their own contingency plans in place to source these maintenance services from other companies and prior to the current issue have replaced Carillion on a variety of sites. These buildings are typically primary care facilities ranging from general practitioner surgeries to small community facilities.

Clinical Trials: EU Law

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the scientific community on the regulatory changes needed to ensure that the UK will have continued alignment with EU regulations on clinical trials after the UK leaves the EU.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government has made clear that a key priority through the negotiations will be to ensure that the United Kingdom remains one of the best places in the world for science and innovation, including on clinical trials. We are in regular contact with the scientific community through the Ministerial and industry co-chaired UK-European Union Life Sciences Steering Group. Outside of this group we have consistent contact with industry and research charities on clinical trials.

University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust: Accident and Emergency Departments

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what proportion of patients at University Hospital Coventry were treated in A&E within one hour of their arrival at that hospital in the most recent quarter for which data is available.

Stephen Barclay: The count and proportion of unplanned accident and emergency (A&E) attendances at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust with a treatment duration of up to and including one hour is shown in the table below. Also shown is the count and proportion of unplanned A&E attendances at the trust with a duration to the conclusion of treatment of up to and including one hour. This data is not available at hospital site level, only at trust level. The data for both of these counts is for the period 1 July 2017 and 30 September 2017 and is provisional.  AttendancesPercentagesDuration to treatment (up to and including one hour)20,85744.6%Duration to conclusion of treatment or attendance (up to and including one hour)10,11121.6% Total A&E attendances46,738 Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, NHS Digital

Medicine: Education

Johnny Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department's news story of 9 August 2017, 1,500 extra medical undergraduate places confirmed, how those training places will be allocated.

Johnny Mercer: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the way in which medical school places are allocated.

Stephen Barclay: 500 medical school places have already been allocated by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to established medical schools in England and will be available to students starting medical school from September 2018. HEFCE and Health Education England (HEE) are currently undertaking a competitive bidding process for established and prospective new medical schools to bid for the remaining 1,000 places that will be available from September 2019. Amongst other criteria, bids will based on priorities such as widening participation in to the profession, a focus on priority specialties and geographical areas across England. Bids are being assessed by an expert assessment panel and HEFCE and HEE are expected to confirm the allocation of the additional 1,000 places in March 2018. The draft health and care workforce strategy that is currently out for consultation proposes that HEE will consider a periodic review of the number and allocation of medical school places.

Department of Health and Social Care: Carillion

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much money his Department owed to Carillion plc in outstanding payments before that company's liquidation.

Stephen Barclay: The Department has no direct contracts with Carillion.

Accountable Care Organisations

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, to what individual or body Accountable Care Organisations will be accountable.

Stephen Barclay: NHS England will be launching a consultation on the contracting arrangements for Accountable Care Organisations (ACOs) in March. No ACO contract will be awarded in the meantime. There is widespread support for ending the fragmented way that care has been provided to improve services for patients and the National Health Service has been working towards this in a number of ways. ACOs are just one of these ways and are intended to allow health and care organisations to formally contract to provide services for a local population in a coordinated way. An ACO is not a new type of legal entity and so would not affect the commissioning structure of the NHS. An ACO would simply be the provider organisation which is awarded a single contract by commissioners for all the services which are within scope for the local accountable care model. Therefore any proposal to award an ACO contract would engage local commissioners’ own duties under the NHS Act 2006. Any area seeking to use an ACO contract would need to comply with longstanding public procurement law. The consultation will set out how the contract fits within the NHS as a whole, address how the existing statutory duties of NHS commissioners and providers would be performed under it (including how this will work with existing governance arrangements), and will set out how public accountability and patient choice would be preserved. Subject to the outcome of the consultation, the two areas at the forefront of using a contract of this sort are Dudley, and Manchester’s proposed local care organisation. Emerging bidders for both proposals are NHS bodies, have the support of local general practitioners and are not private sector organisations.

Carillion

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has he made of the effect on the NHS of the liquidation of Carillion plc.

Stephen Barclay: Carillion provides facilities management services to 13 National Health Service trusts through subcontracts with Private Finance Initiative (PFI) project companies. Carillion is also building two NHS hospitals under PFI contracts. The Department and the hospital regulator NHS Improvement have been helping trusts supplied by Carillion with planning and will continue to work intensively with trusts over the coming days to minimise disruption. The Government is committed to maintain public services and has an agreement with the Official Receiver to ensure that Carillion workers in public sector contracts will continue to be paid. The contracts between the trusts and PFI Companies are still in place, which means that each PFI Company is still contractually obliged to manage the projects and find another construction or facilities management services subcontractor who can continue to deliver the services and building work. The PFI Companies are currently in discussions with PWC (on behalf of the official receiver), their lenders and with other service and construction companies to assess how best to continue delivering these contracts. Three NHS trusts also directly contract Carillion (ie outside of PFI contracts) to provide facilities management services and car parking management. Each NHS trust with a direct contract may, at any given point in time, have amounts owing to or withheld from Carillion on the basis of contract’s provisions. This data is not collected centrally. The Department has no direct contracts with Carillion. In addition, Carillion provide maintenance services to a number of NHS LIFT Companies. The NHS LIFT Companies have their own contingency plans in place to source these maintenance services from other companies and prior to the current issue have replaced Carillion on a variety of sites. These buildings are typically primary care facilities ranging from general practitioner surgeries to small community facilities.

Health Services and Social Services: Finance

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to reform the funding of the NHS and adult social care; and what the timetable is for bringing forward proposals on such reform.

Stephen Barclay: The Government is clear that the long term sustainability of the National Health Service and adult social care is a key priority. We support the NHS England report, Next Steps on the NHS Five Year Forward View, published in March 2017. This set out practical steps for ensuring that the NHS is able to adapt and transform to meet our priorities for the future. We are actively working with NHS England and national partners to use the period covered by the Five Year Forward View to put in place the necessary steps for the future. An ageing society means that we need to reach a longer-term sustainable settlement for social care. This is why the Government is committing to publish a Green Paper by summer 2018 setting out its proposals for reform. To support these plans for long-term reform, we gave the NHS certainty at the 2015 Spending Review, when we set annual budgets up to and including 2020-21. In doing so, the Government funded the NHS’s Five Year Forward View plan, with a £10 billion a year real terms increase in its budget by 2020/21. The spring Budget announced an additional £2 billion will be given to councils over the next three years for social care and in total, we have given councils access to £9.25 billion more dedicated funding for social care between 2017/18 and 2019/20.

Mental Health Services: Prisons

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the written evidence submitted to the Public Accounts Committee by NHS England on 23 October 2017, MHP0008, on mental health in prisons, what steps his Department is taking to reduce the time taken for prisoners to be transferred to a mental health ward.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the written evidence submitted by NHS England to the Public Accounts Committee on 23 October 2017, NHS England MHP0008, what steps are being taken to prevent Regulation 28 failures from contributing to prisoners taking their own life.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS England is working with partners across the criminal justice system to improve services for offenders with mental health difficulties, which includes a service review across all adult medium and low secure services. The service review is considering a number of issues including the future demand and capacity required against a number of criteria, levels of security, gender, service type and geographical location. A detailed understanding of difficulties in the system in relation to remissions from hospital to prison is being considered so that access, egress and throughput are all improved. This is vital to ensuring that the appropriate capacity is planned for the future. The current Prison Transfer and Remission Guidance, published by the Department in 2011, is being reviewed, and two separate documents being developed to replace it, one for Immigration Removal Centres and another for Prisons. A particular focus of this work is about ensuring that the timescales within the guidance take into account clinical urgency and need. NHS England anticipates publication of the new guidance documents in April 2018. Regulation 28 letters are sent to local commissioning leads, in addition to NHS England’s National Medical Director. Local commissioners produce reports in response to the challenges raised in each Regulation 28 letter. The dedicated NHS England national lead picks up any recurring themes and reflects these in the responses made on behalf of NHS England. Action plans are initiated at a local level to support changes in how organisations and professionals work locally, where these are viewed as potentially being contributory to deaths. The national lead works very closely with the local commissioner to ensure activities described in the local response, and reiterated in the national report, are adhered to.

Mental Health Services: Prisons

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the written evidence submitted by NHS England to the Public Accounts Committee on 23 October 2017, NHS England MHP0008, what steps are being taken to monitor the (a) quality and (b) outcome of mental health services delivered by private providers in prisons.

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the written evidence on NHS England's spending on mental health and substance misuse services in prisons in 2016-17 which was submitted to the Public Accounts Committee on 23 October 2017, NHS England MHP0008, how much of the funding referred to was provided to which prisons; and what contracts were allocated to healthcare providers in respect of that funding.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The need to improve the collection and analysis of performance and activity data in relation to mental health provision in prisons has been recognised. NHS England is currently reviewing existing systems to identify and improve current processes. The first of these changes, amendments to the Health and Justice Indicators of Performance data set, will be in place by April 2018, ensuring that NHS England is able to track and manage performance of all providers within all prisons. This will also identify blockages within the system and highlight where NHS England needs to take steps and remedial measures to ensure better outcomes for this patient group. NHS England plan to work with NHS Improvement to agree comparable performance measures. The funding breakdown submitted to the Public Accounts Committee in October 2017 outlined how much each NHS England region spent on mental health and substance misuse services in prisons as a percentage of the total adult prison healthcare budget. This was 37% of the £400 million budget for healthcare in adult prisons in England in 2016-17. Information on individual contract values per prison is commercially sensitive.

East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with East of England Ambulance Service Trust since 17 January 2018 on ambulance delays during December 2017 and January 2018.

Stephen Barclay: The Department made enquiries about whether ambulance delays during mid-December 2017 to early January 2018 caused additional harm to patients at the Trust, through NHS Improvement. The Department has received assurance that all cases that had significant delays have already been identified and are being investigated by the Trust, in conjunction with its commissioners. Where cases are classified as ‘serious incidents’ there is a nationally set process which ensures that investigations are appropriately rigorous. NHS England and NHS Improvement have called a risk summit to review the current situation in East of England Ambulance Service. The Care Quality Commission has also been notified of the concerns raised.

Prime Minister

Department for Exiting the European Union: Junior Ministers

Layla Moran: To ask the Prime Minister, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January to Question 121819, for what reasons she did not provide an explanation of why she appointed an additional Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Exiting the European Union on 9 January 2017 in that Answer.

Mrs Theresa May: I have nothing further to add.

Department for Work and Pensions

Carers: Personal Independence Payment

Dr Paul Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the effect of personal independence payments assessments on carers of people with disabilities.

Sarah Newton: Carer’s Allowance (CA) provides a measure of financial support and recognition for people who give up the opportunity of full-time employment in order to provide regular and substantial care for a severely disabled person. In order for CA to be paid, the disabled person must be in receipt of a “gateway benefit” which includes the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP). Once a claim to Personal Independence Payment for the disabled person has been awarded, CA may be backdated to the date payment started. In order to have a claim to CA backdated, it must be made within three months of the decision on the disability benefit claim, and the qualifying conditions for CA must be satisfied throughout the past period. Since 2010 the rate of CA has increased from £53.90 to £62.70 a week, meaning an additional £450 a year for carers. In April 2018, a further increase to £64.60 is planned. This will mean that since 2010, the rate of CA will have increased by over £550 a year. Carers also have access to the full range of social security benefits according to their circumstances.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will review the accuracy of reporting on DLA and PIP assessments; and if she will update best practice guidance for producing these reports.

Sarah Newton: As Personal Independence Payment has replaced Disability Living Allowance for people aged 16 to 64, the vast majority of Disability Living Allowance claims are decided on the basis of self-reporting of need. Where a medical assessment is required, the Department has published comprehensive guidance for Health Professionals on how to complete the assessment report. This guidance was last updated in July 2017. As the majority of assessments are now undertaken on Personal Independence Payment, we work closely with the Assessment Providers to further improve the quality of assessments which includes ensuring their assessment reports are to the standard that the Department expects and are completed within an optimum timeframe. We have a programme of continuous improvement which includes Assessment Providers increasing clinical coaching, along with feedback and support available to each assessor. We are undertaking more observations of assessments and have introduced an independent audit of assessment reports to ensure that the advice provided to the Department’s Case Managers is of suitable quality, fully explained and justified. We will commit to progress the recommendations in Paul Gray’s second independent review around quality and consistency of Personal Independence Payment assessments. The Personal Independent Payment Assessment Guide provides comprehensive guidance for Health Professionals regarding all aspects of the assessment process including completion of assessment reports. This guide is updated regularly and was last updated December 2017.

Employment and Support Allowance: Appeals

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who were successful in appeals for Employment Support Allowance were (a) evicted or (b) threatened with eviction in the period between the original assessment and the appeal decision.

Sarah Newton: This information is not available. If a Local Authority considers that a claimant requires further financial assistance towards their housing costs (including rent in advance, deposits and supporting tenants through the transition to welfare reforms), they can award a Discretionary Housing Payment, in addition to welfare benefits. This may enable Housing Benefit or Universal Credit claimants to stay in their properties, but non-payment of rent isn’t the only reason why evictions take place in. Tenants are also be evicted because of anti-social behaviour or criminal activities. Social landlords in particular design their policies to ensure that any evictions are carried out only after other options have been exhausted, tenants have failed to engage with their landlord or tenancy management remedies have proved ineffective.

Department for Work and Pensions: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many contracts her Department holds with government strategic suppliers.

Kit Malthouse: On the 19th of January 2018, the Department for Work and Pensions has 55 contracts with government strategic suppliers.

Social Security Benefits: Disability

Ms Marie Rimmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what guidance his Department provides on allowing disability benefit assessors to provide feedback on mistakes or errors that occur during health assessments to improve the assessment process.

Sarah Newton: Where a Work Capability Assessment and Personal Independence Payment health professional’s report is examined by a Decision Maker that person will look to see if there are obvious flaws. For Example, if there are any contradictions or inconsistencies or omissions within that report. If that report is considered unacceptable or requires clarification the Decision Maker or Quality Assurance Manager will contact the assessment provider for clarification, advice or to return the report for re-work as unacceptable.

Work Capability Assessment

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons work capability assessment reports are not released to claimants until a decision has been made on their claim; and if she will review this policy.

Sarah Newton: As part of the first Independent Review of the Work Capability Assessment, Professor Malcolm Harrington recommended a copy of the personalised summary of the assessment report was sent to every claimant. Following a trial in 2011 evidence suggested a better approach would be to send claimants the Decision Makers justification. This approach was agreed with Professor Harrington and implementation commenced in December 2011. The implementation considered policy, operational and claimant’s requirements. As a result it was agreed that the Decision Maker’s justification will be shared in all adverse decisions, and only shared on request where entitlement has been awarded.

Jobcentres: Glasgow

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the increased footfall at (a) Newlands and (b) Laurieston jobcentres resulting from the closure of Langside jobcentre.

Alok Sharma: Langside Jobcentre, as of 13 December 2017, had 500 claimants. Although no specific assessment has been made of the increased footfall at Newlands and Laurieston jobcentres, we know that these sites have the capacity to accommodate the movement of claimants from Langside. This means we will be able to match the increase in footfall by moving our work coaches, who were previously working in Langside, with their claimants to Newlands and Laurieston jobcentres.

Statutory Sick Pay: Public Consultation

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the timetable is for the Government's proposed consultation on statutory sick pay.

Sarah Newton: As announced in Improving Lives: the Future of Work, Health and Disability, we want to see a reformed Statutory Sick Pay system which supports more flexible working, for example to support phased returns to work. We are taking forward further policy development and will bring forward a consultation on these changes, as well as any other SSP changes we identify in our wider work, before bringing forward this reform. We are also considering Matthew Taylor’s further recommendations about SSP and how to make sure the appropriate balance of incentives and expectations is in place for employers.We plan to report back on preliminary work later this year.

Universal Credit: Enfield

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people have had payment of universal credit delayed by (a) one week, (b) two weeks, (c) three weeks or (d) four weeks or more in (i) the Enfield North Constituency and (ii) the London Borough of Enfield.

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of new claims for universal credit under full service (a) received full payment on time or (b) received some payment on time each week from the week beginning 18 September 2017 up to and including 31st December 2017.

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of new claims for Universal Credit under Full Service (a) received full payment on time or (b) received some payment on time from the week beginning 18 September 2017 up to and including 31 December 2017.

Alok Sharma: There is no Universal Credit payment timeliness data broken down by area or region. The table below shows the proportion of new claims to Universal Credit Full Service that received some or all of their payment on time during the period requested: Week commencing:% of new claims to UC receiving some payment on time% of new claims to UC receiving full payment on time18/09/201787%76%25/09/201786%76%02/10/201788%78%09/10/201788%76%16/10/201787%77%23/10/201788%78%30/10/201788%78%06/11/201788%79%13/11/201788%80%20/11/201788%81%27/11/201788%81%04/12/201790%82%11/12/201789%82%18/12/201791%84%25/12/201787%80% The data in the rows for 30/10/2017 to 25/12/2017 are estimates based on information currently available. The average proportion of new claims for Universal Credit Full Service that received full payment on time over the entire period shown above is 80%. The average proportion of new claims for Universal Credit Full Service that received some payment on time over the entire period shown above is 87%.

Work Capability Assessment

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2018 to Question 121884, when her Department plans to begin testing new approaches to Work Capability Assessments.

Sarah Newton: We are currently testing in our assessment centres some of the measures outlined in the Improving Lives: The Future of health, Work and Disability command paper.

Work Capability Assessment

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2018 to Question 121884, who the stakeholders are whom her Department is approaching to be involved in testing new approaches to Work Capability Assessments.

Sarah Newton: We are committed to working with a comprehensive range of external stakeholders including disability charities, academics, people with disabilities and their advocates.

Department for Work and Pensions: Former Members

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many former Conservative Members of Parliament who were defeated at the 2017 general election and who now work in her Department were appointed after a publicly advertised and open recruitment process.

Kit Malthouse: This data is not recorded or stored. Candidates taking up appointment into the Civil Service are required to be impartial and independent of political and other external influence.

Work Capability Assessment

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if she will undertake an end-to-end review of her Department's approach to the work capability assessment process.

Sarah Newton: We are committed to assessing people with health conditions and disabilities fairly and accurately, helping people to access the right support. We recognise the importance of getting reform in this area right. We therefore intend to focus on testing new approaches to build our evidence base for future reform. In the Improving Lives: The Future of health, Work and Disability command paper we committed to work with external stakeholders to inform future changes to the Work Capability Assessment.

Universal Credit: Income Tax

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons a claimant's weekly income tax rebate is regarded as earnings under universal credit.

Alok Sharma: Repayments of Income Tax and National Insurance contribution repayments add to people’s financial resources, so they need to be taken into account in calculating their Universal Credit. If the claimant was in any paid work during the tax year the repayment relates to, these repayments will be treated as earnings. Where this does not apply, the repayments will be treated as capital. If the repayment increases a claimant’s capital to £6,000 or more, it may affect the amount of Universal Credit they receive.

Universal Credit

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claims for universal credit were paid an advance of the value of (a) less than £50, (b) £50.01-£100, (c) £100.01-£150, (d) £150.01-£200, (e) £200.01-£250, (f) £250.01-£300, (g) £300.01-£350, (h) £350.01-£400, (i) £400.01-£450, (j) £450.01-£500, (k) £500.01-£550, (l) £550.01-£600 and (m) greater than £600 in each month from 5 June 2017 up to and including 31 December 2017.

Alok Sharma: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer provided on 24 January 2018 to question 123902.

Employment Schemes: Young People

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether young people on the new Youth Obligation programme who have not found employment at the end of six months will be obliged to accept a mandatory work placement.

Alok Sharma: Claimants on the Youth Obligation programme who are still unemployed after receiving intensive support for six months will be offered work-related training or a three month work experience opportunity to help them achieve their job goals. The claimant will not be referred to a work experience opportunity unless they agree that it is the right opportunity for them. Participation in the work experience opportunity is voluntary.

Employment Schemes: Young People

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, which companies and organisations provide work placements for young people on the new Youth Obligation programme.

Alok Sharma: Youth Obligation claimants receive a programme of intensive support to help them find employment or an apprenticeship quickly. During their journey, claimants can access a menu of opportunities, skills training and work experience, according to individual need. There are currently 128 employers on the Department’s National Portfolio who have committed to offering work experience opportunities, including Accenture, Asda, Balfour Beatty, B&Q, Compass Group and Greggs. Additionally, each Jobcentre district has their own Local Employer and Partnerships Team dedicated to identifying skills needs, building and sharing labour market intelligence and advising on local recruitment opportunities, including sourcing employers to provide work placements.

Work Capability Assessment

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of changing the work capability assessment to take into account degenerative illnesses.

Sarah Newton: We are committed to assessing people with health conditions and disabilities fairly and accurately, helping people to access the right support. We recognise the importance of getting reform in this area right. We therefore intend to focus on testing new approaches to build our evidence base for future reform. In the Improving Lives: The Future of health, Work and Disability command paper we committed to work with external stakeholders to inform future changes to the Work Capability Assessment.

Jobcentres: Training

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many work coaches in each job centre have received mental health training.

Sarah Newton: The information requested is not held at Jobcentre level and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.As outlined in the response to PQ 121780, each Work Coach receives comprehensive and tailored training based on their individual knowledge and requirements. The mental health route way forms part of the UC Full Service Work Coach training, and all work coaches working on Full Service will have undertaken this.In addition to Work Coach support, the Department has also recruited local Community Partners to provide extra expertise on disability and health conditions. Furthermore, our Disability Employment Advisors actively provide advice and guidance to support claimants with disabilities, including those with mental health issues.

Department for Work and Pensions: Chief Scientific Advisers

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many meetings (a) she and (b) her predecessor held with her Department’s Chief Scientific Adviser between October 2017 and December 2017.

Kit Malthouse: There have been no meetings with the Chief Scientific Adviser and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions between October 2017 and December 2017.

Home Office

Torture

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to review the definition of torture used in the Adults At Risk policy.

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans his Department has to hold discussions on the review of its Adults at Risk policy with (a) Freedom from Torture, (b) Medical Justice and (c) Survivors Speak OUT.

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of replacing the Adults at Risk policy with a framework which prohibits the detention of all victims of torture and other vulnerable people from immigration detention.

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to improve immigration detention safeguards for victims of torture and other vulnerable people, including people who have suffered from severe physical, psychological or sexual violence; and if she will make a statement.

Caroline  Nokes: The adults at risk in immigration detention policy came into force in September 2016 and was part of the Government’s response to Stephen Shaw’s review of the welfare of vulnerable people in immigration detention. It is based on a case by case assessment of the appropriateness of detention for each individual, depending on the nature and evidence of vulnerability available in their particular case. It involves a balancing of vulnerability considerations against immigration factors (how soon removal is due to take place, public protection concerns, and compliance with immigration law). If an individual is identified as being at risk in the terms of the policy, they will be detained (or their detention continued) only when the immigration factors outweigh the evidence of risk. As such, the policy strengthens the existing presumption against detention. It does not, however, represent an automatic exclusion from immigration detention for any group of vulnerable, or potentially vulnerable, individuals and the Government has no plans to put in place a framework which fully prohibits the detention of any group of individuals.Victims of sexual or gender based violence already fall explicitly within the scope of the policy. Individuals who have suffered severe physical or psychological violence are not explicitly referenced, but it is highly likely that such individuals would in any case fall within its scope in that they would meet one of the other indicators of risk set out in the policy (for example, suffering from a mental health condition or impairment, or suffering from a serious physical health condition, or suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, or having been a victim of torture).Following the High Court judgment on 10 October 2017 in the case of Medical Justice and Others v the Secretary of State for the Home Department, the Government has been considering how it can best address the Court’s findings in relation to the statutory guidance in respect of the adults at risk in immigration detention policy. This includes consideration of the definition of torture that should apply in the policy. On 16 January 2018, Home Office officials wrote to a range of non-governmental organisations, including Medical Justice and Freedom from Torture, to propose a series of meetings in order to elicit their views as part of the process for developing statutory amendments.

Hezbollah

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent the promotion of the military wing of Hezbollah in the UK.

Mr Ben  Wallace: Hizballah's External Security Organisation was proscribed in March 2001 and in 2008 the proscription was extended to Hizballah's military apparatus including the Jihad Council.Proscription means that an organisation is outlawed and is unable to operate in the UK. It is a criminal offence for a person to: • belong to or invite support for a proscribed organisation; • arrange a meeting in support of a proscribed organisation;• wear clothing or carry articles in public which arouse reasonable suspicion that an individual is a member or supporter of the proscribed organisation.  The penalties for proscription offences can be a maximum of 10 years in prison and/or an unlimited fine.

Aviation: Security

Paul Girvan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with the US State Department on introducing US pre-clearance to airports in the UK.

Caroline  Nokes: Discussions with the US Administration on their proposals for the pre-clearance in the UK of passengers travelling to the US are ongoing, and no decision has yet been made.

Agriculture: Seasonal Workers

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to ensure that UK Visas and Immigration has sufficient capacity to process visas to allow non-UK workers to perform on-farm duties during harvest season.

Caroline  Nokes: The present immigration system makes no provision for workers outside of the European Economic Area to come to the UK as harvest workers.Currently EEA citizens do not require a visa to work in the UK. UK Visas and Immigration has sufficient capacity to process all visas for those who require a visa to come to the UK to work.

Witnesses

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what guidance her Department provides to the police on requesting witnesses to provide facial composites of a suspect.

Mr Nick  Hurd: The decision to ask a witness to help produce an E-Fit or composite facial image of a person they saw on a previous occasion is an operational matter for the police. The Home Office therefore does not provide guidance to the police on such matters. However, national operational guidance, published in 2009 by the National Policing Improvement Agency (NPIA), can be accessed via the College of Policing Authorised Professional Practice for Investigations. This is available at: http://library.college.police.uk/docs/acpo/facial-identification-guidance-2009.pdf.

Witnesses

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the EvoFIT facial composite process can be altered to allow witnesses to start by using a likeness, as opposed to starting from first principles.

Mr Nick  Hurd: EvoFIT is a private company which develops and markets computer software for producing composite images to assist the police in tracing and identifying unknown suspects. Any change to the system is an operational matter for the National Voice and Video Identification Strategy Group, which sits under the relevant National Police Chiefs’ Council portfolio.

Immigrants: Detainees

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many immigration detentions took place in the (a) north of England, (b) North West, (c) East Midlands and (d) West Midlands in (i) 2016 and (ii) 2017.

Caroline  Nokes: Our published detention data is available at the following link:www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-july-to-september-2017-data-tables

Immigrants: Detainees

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the maximum detention time in reporting centre holding rooms in the immigration estate was in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017.

Caroline  Nokes: Information on the length of detention for individuals held in reporting centre holding rooms is not collected centrally by the Home Office.Reporting centre holding rooms are not open overnight and the length of length of time in detention for individuals held in these locations would not usually exceed twelve hours, although there may be occasional short extensions.

Immigrants: Detainees

Ruth George: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when he plans to respond to the North and Midlands Monitoring Board for Short-Term Holding Facilities, Annual Report 2016.

Caroline  Nokes: I will review the annual report of the North and Midlands Independent Monitoring Board for Short-Term Holding Facilities and respond in due course.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the settled status document will be free for EU citizens in the UK with a valid permanent residence document; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline  Nokes: EU citizens and their family members who are resident in the UK before the date the UK leaves the EU and hold valid permanent residence documents at the time that they apply for settled status will not pay a fee. This will also apply to beneficiaries of the Withdrawal Agreement who hold indefinite leave to enter or remain in the UK.

Asylum: Housing

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the contract notice and the current procurement process for her Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contract, what steps she is taking to ensure compliance with (a) the Public Contract Regulations 2015 in terms of its article 57 on assessing whether any mandatory and discretionary grounds apply, (b) ss1(3),(6) and (7) Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012 and (c) s149 Equality Act 2010.

Caroline  Nokes: The Procurement process for the new Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contract will be fully compliant with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015). The initial stage of the process, which has just been completed, conforms with the Crown Commercial Service Procurement Policy Note (8/16) dated 9 September 2016, and has used the Standard Selection Questionnaire (SSQ) 2016 as the basis to complete the selection stage.In accordance with the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012, we have undertaken extensive and relevant market and stakeholder consultation during the pre-procurement phase of the procurement. Information derived during this process has informed the design of the service delivery model. This has enabled the Authority to place the Service User, and “relevant areas” at the centre of the new contract.The procurement process for the project is compliant with the Equality Act 2010, it ensures that the services procured under this contract are accessible to, and meet the diverse needs of all users.

Asylum: Housing

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Procurement Policy Note: Standard Selection Questionnaire (SSQ) for 2016 applies to the current procurement process for her Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contract; and for what reasons the SSQ completion requirement was not expressly specified in its contract notice, published on 18 November 2017.

Caroline  Nokes: The Procurement process for the new Asylum Accommodation and Support Services Contract has recently completed its initial SSQ stage. The process is fully compliant with the Crown Commercial Service Procurement Policy Note (8/16) dated 9 September 2016, and used the Standard Selection Questionnaire (SSQ) 2016 to complete the initial stage (Request For Information) which is referred to at Section v1.3 of the contract notice, published on 18 November 2017.

Home Office: Contracts

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has taken any steps as a result of Carillion entering liquidation to conduct an analysis and risk assessment of the financial stability and viability of both her current outsourced public service suppliers and in-current tendering of public services in respect of their viability and profit warning records of any bidders.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office regularly monitors the financial performance of its current strategic suppliers as part of its supplier management processes. As part of the wider Government Commercial Function, the Home Office receives market intelligence from the Markets and Suppliers team, and the department works closely with Crown Representatives who operate at board level with our strategic suppliers and provide insights into company strategy and issues. The Home Office has applied this process in assessing the impact of the Carillion liquidation.All Home Office contracts are tendered in compliance with the EU Procurement Directives and as part of its tendering process an assessment of financial viability is undertaken, which is in line with best practice and Cabinet Office guidance. The assessment is proportionate to the risk of the procurement being undertaken and is completed on each bidder by independent qualified accountants. The outcomes are considered within the normal tendering governance processes. The recommendations of the independent assessment will be considered alongside any other financial intelligence and insights that are held as part of the wider Government Commercial Function.

Asylum

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2018 to Question 123154, what the plans are which are in place to reduce the number of asylum cases older than six months which are still awaiting a decision.

Caroline  Nokes: The Home Office has detailed plans designed to reduce the number of cases older than six months which are still awaiting a decision . These include a staff retention strategy to ensure it retains its highly skilled asylum decision makers, further expansion of digital processes to increase caseworking flexibility and the creation of a new team in Bootle which has been specifically established to tackle the older cases in the asylum system. This team has been designed to establish and roll out best practise in the management of older cases.

Crimes of Violence: Young People

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to prevent young people committing violent crimes.

Victoria Atkins: The Government is delivering a range of action to prevent violent crime including action to tackle knife crime and gang related violence and exploitation.Our work to tackle knife crime includes early intervention and prevention work with key partners such as the charity Redthread who intervene with young people in hospital at the ‘teachable moment’. We have awarded £765,000 from a new anti-knife crime community fund launched in October 2017 to support local communities to tackle knife crime. 47 different projects have been supported through the community fund, and the projects awarded funding were particularly aimed at helping young people.We are also supporting the Operation Sceptre national week of action by police forces to tackle knife crime which is taking place in February. Police forces will be undertaking weapon sweeps, targeted stop and search operations, undertaking test purchasing, encouraging the use of surrender bins, and carrying out educational activities with young people.Through the Ending Gang Violence and Exploitation (EGVE) programme the Home Office is providing match funding for local area and strategic reviews in areas experiencing gang related issues and challenges to test and build local resilience towards tackling these types of criminal activity, especially county lines. 13 local areas were reviewed in 2016/17 and a further 15 areas are benefiting from these reviews in 2017/18. This supports our wider work to tackle county lines and especially preventing young people becoming offenders or victims through county lines drugs dealing with its associated violence and exploitation. The new Drugs Dealing Telecommunications Restriction Orders (DDTROs) introduced in December will also help tackle county lines drugs dealing.We have provided funding for 12 Young People’s Advocates to work directly with gang-affected women and girls. We have also provided funding in 2017/18 of over £280,000 to 16 local EGVE projects, including projects delivering gang, knife and county lines awareness training for young people, practitioners and foster carers, community sports and arts projects and mentoring programmes.An action plan to tackle the use of acid and other corrosives in violent attacks was announced by the Home Secretary in July 2017. This included actions to improve the policing response and also the introduction of a voluntary set of commitments for retailers to not sell certain particularly harmful corrosive substances to under 18s. The agreement with retailers was introduced earlier this month.The Government will be publishing a Serious Violence Strategy shortly.

Deportation

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer of 22 January 2018 to Question 122955, on Deportation, how many detainees have sustained injuries during attempted escorted removals in each of the last five years.

Caroline  Nokes: Published Immigration Enforcement transparency data can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/migration-transparency-data#immigration-enforcement.

Undocumented Migrants

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the memorandum of understanding on the processing of information requests from the Home Office to NHS Digital for tracing immigration offenders which came into effect on 1 January 2017, what number and proportion of trace requests under that memorandum have been conducted for individuals whom the Home Office had not re-established contact via other centrally held government sources of information; and how many of those requests resulted in (a) apprehension and (b) the resolution of the immigration issue to be addressed.

Caroline  Nokes: NHS Digital’s data recently published written evidence before the health select committee.The report can be found here - http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/health-committee/memorandum-of-understanding-on-datasharing-between-nhs-digital-and-the-home-office/written/76672.html

Slavery

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department collects on (a) housing provision for confirmed victims of modern slavery after they have left the National Referral Mechanism and (b) the number of such victims who become homeless after support from the Government has ended.

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department collects on the (a) immigration status of confirmed victims of modern slavery after they have left the National Referral Mechanism and (b) number of such victims who have been deported from the UK.

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what data her Department collects on (a) the employment status of confirmed victims of modern slavery after they have left the National Referral Mechanism and (b) the number of such victims who have the right to work in the UK.

Victoria Atkins: The Home Office does not routinely collect data on victims after they have left the National Referral Mechanism. In October 2017, the Government announced a package of reforms to the National Referral Mechanism including the development of a digitised casework system. It is anticipated that the digital system will improve our ability to collate and report on the progress of victims through the National Referral Mechanism.The reform package additionally includes an extended period of move on support for confirmed victims. This will enable a more robust transition for victims leaving government funded support. In addition, the provision of a 6 month drop-in service will present the opportunity for continued engagement between support providers and confirmed adult victims.

Firearms: Licensing

Mike Hill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that firearms licensing medical procedures are being (a) complied with and (b) promoted.

Mr Nick  Hurd: In accordance with arrangements introduced in 2016, the police write to the GPs of those who apply for a firearms licence to seek relevant information regarding the applicant’s medical and mental health before the licence is issued. We are working with the police, relevant medical bodies and others to understand whether these arrangements are working as intended or whether further measures are required to ensure that we have consistent arrangements across the country.The Policing and Crime Act 2017 provides the Secretary of State with the power to issue statutory guidance to the police on their firearms licensing functions, including guidance on these medical arrangements. We intend to consult on this guidance before it is finalised.

Police: Greater Manchester

Mr Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent representations she has received from the Mayor of Greater Manchester on changes (a) in the number of police officers and (b) to police funding.

Mr Nick  Hurd: The Home Office is in regular correspondence with Police and Crime Commissioners on a range of topics, including funding and resources.I recently announced the proposed police funding settlement for 2018/19 which would see an additional £450m invested in the policing system, around £270m direct to PCCs. Should the Mayor choose to use increased precept flexibility, this could mean an additional £10.4m for Greater Manchester Police. It is a matter for police leaders to determine locally how to use these resources.

National Police Air Service: Wales

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment the Government has made of the performance of the National Police Air Service in Wales.

Mr Nick  Hurd: The Home Office does not collect performance information on the National Police Air Service (NPAS). NPAS is a collaboration of English and Welsh Police Forces. The Service’s Strategic Board comprised of Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners, including the Dyfed Powys PCC, are responsible for overseeing NPAS. HMICFRS published a study of Police Air Support in November 2017. NPAS and the National Police Chief’s Council have both announced that they are undertaking work to address recommendations concerning NPAS.

Police: Reorganisation

Mike Hill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the status is of the proposal to create a national infrastructure police force; and if she will make a statement.

Mr Nick  Hurd: The Government continues to consider the feasibility, benefits and risks of creating a national infrastructure police force. As this work continues, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary, Ministry of Defence Police and the British Transport Police continue to work together and in collaboration with territorial forces to optimise the protection of the public and our critical infrastructure.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland Office: Beverage Containers

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, how many disposable coffee cups were purchased by her Department in each of the last five years.

Mr Shailesh Vara: The Northern Ireland Office has, in 2015 purchased 1,500 disposable cups, in 2016 purchased 1,000 and in 2017 purchased 5,000. Records relating to purchases of cups in the previous two years are not held.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Mayflower: Anniversaries

Mr Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he is taking to appoint a special representative for the Mayflower 400 celebrations in 2020; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Ellis: The Prime Minister established the post of Special Envoy for the Mayflower commemorations in the Spring Budget of 2017 and invited Oliver Colvile to take up the position. Following the 2017 General Election, the Prime Minister invited Mr Colvile to continue in the role, which he accepted.

BBC: Legal Costs

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what information he holds on the amount and proportion of monies from the public purse received by the BBC which it has spent on legal fees and out of court settlements and associated costs relating to non-disclosure agreements in cases of alleged victims of discrimination, bullying and harassment in each of the last seven years.

Margot James: We do not hold this information. The BBC is operationally and editorially independent of government.

Theft

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps his Department is taking to help prevent the sale of stolen goods on classified advertising and auctioning websites.

Margot James: The Home Office is working with the National Police Chief’s Council lead for acquisitive crime and other partners at the national level to look at whether there is more to be done to tackle the markets for stolen goods to make products less attractive to thieves. The work is covering a number of different elements including strengthening identity and due diligence checks carried out by second hand traders and agreeing a national code of conduct, which aims to protect both businesses and the public from inadvertently buying stolen goods.

Bank Services: Internet

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department has made an assessment of (a) the level of use of online banking and (b) the effect of online banking on the number of charitable donations made by the public.

Tracey Crouch: The Office for National Statistics (ONS) compiles data on the activities carried out by people that use the internet, including internet banking. This can be found at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/householdcharacteristics/homeinternetandsocialmediausage The ONS estimates that in Great Britain, in 2017, 90% of households had internet access and 63% of adults over the age of 16 used the internet to bank in 2017. More and more people want to donate digitally and the Charities Aid Foundation reports that over a quarter of people have given money to charity online. The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport is providing training with the Foundation for Social Improvement to help civil society organisations to maximise the opportunity from online giving. The Digital Skills Partnership is also improving digital skills for individuals, charities and businesses to support the UK's ambition to be a world-leading digital economy. Partner organisations have already delivered more than two million free digital skills training opportunities, with a further two million pledged.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many contracts his Department holds with government strategic suppliers.

Tracey Crouch: The Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport holds four such contracts.

Broadband: Cornwall

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps he has taken to facilitate access to superfast broadband for people who live in (a) Cornwall and (b) North Cornwall constituency; and whether he has held discussions with superfast broadband providers on delivering that service.

Margot James: The Government has provided over £5.9m for the delivery of superfast broadband in Cornwall. According to Thinkbroadband, currently over 90% of premises in Cornwall have access to Superfast Broadband, up from 33% in 2011. The local Superfast Cornwall project has a current delivery contract with BT which will extend coverage to at least a further 3% of premises within Cornwall. As confirmed in our announcement in December 2017 we are pushing ahead with our plans for a Universal Service Obligation (USO) so that by 2020 everyone across the UK will have a clear, enforceable right to request high speed broadband.

Tourism

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether he has held recent discussions with Cabinet colleagues on the effect on levels of tourism of litter on (a) public highways and (b) the countryside; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Ellis: Littering is a concern for everyone, residents and visitors alike. VisitBritain have recently carried out research into the factors that encourage people to come to the UK. Litter was one of the factors they asked people to consider, and the report will be released on the VisitBritain website in due course. Additionally, the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs have put forward measures in their 25 Year Plan to address littering.

Channel Four Television: Location

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with (a) Birmingham City Council and (b) the West Midlands Combined Authority on the potential relocation of Channel 4 outside London.

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions he has had with Coventry City Council on the potential relocation of Channel 4 outside London.

Margot James: We received a number of submissions to the Channel 4 regional consultation from individuals and local authorities across the UK. No decisions have been taken. The government is working with Channel 4 on how it can best increase its regional impact, and we will set out next steps in due course.

Internet: Bullying

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the Royal Foundation's National Action Plan to Tackle Cyberbullying, published on 16 Novmber 2017, to tackle on-line (a) Islamophobia, (b) homophobia and (c) antisemitism.

Margot James: The Royal Foundation has played a key role bringing together technology companies with those working hard to protect children, in order to help create industry-driven initiatives and encourage the companies to take their social responsibility seriously. The Royal Foundation’s National Action Plan tackles cyberbullying which can include islamophobia, homophobia and antisemitism. In our Internet Safety Strategy, we consulted on introducing a code of practice, which will build on the Royal Foundation’s work. As set out in the Digital Economy Act 2017, the code will address all forms of bullying, insulting, intimidating and humiliating behaviour by setting out guidance for social media providers about what they should do in relation to conduct on their platforms.

Digital Technology: Departmental Coordination

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent meetings officials and ministers from his Department have had with their counterparts at the Department for Education on education and the proposed Digital Charter.

Margot James: Ministers and officials have regular meetings and discussions with their counterparts in the Department for Education to discuss a range of issues, including the Digital Charter.

Mobile Phones

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether his Department plans to take steps to end the practice of people continuing to be charged for the cost of their mobile handset after the end of the minimum contract period.

Margot James: The Government’s Manifesto committed to making it clear when a mobile customer has paid off the price of their handset. This is an area where Government recognises that action is needed to improve protections for consumers. The Department is currently considering this issue. We will listen to the views of stakeholders and are working closely with Ofcom, as the UK’s independent communications regulator, and mobile service providers to find a solution that protects consumers.

Olympic Games

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what criteria a sports governing body must fulfil in order to be recognised as an official Olympic partner by the UK Government.

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, for what reasons the Deaflympics is not recognised as an official Olympic sporting event by the Government.

Tracey Crouch: Recognition as an official Olympic partner is a matter for the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The Government does not therefore set such criteria. Decisions on which sports are on the programmes for the Olympic and Paralympic Games are matters for the IOC and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) respectively. The Deaflympics (previously called World Games for the Deaf and International Games for the Deaf) are an International Olympic Committee (IOC) sanctioned event at which deaf athletes compete at an elite level.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Washing Machines: Standards

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what regulatory standards are in place for filters in washing machines; and whether he has plans to review those standards.

Andrew Griffiths: Washing machines placed on the market on or after the 8 December 2016 must comply with the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 and before that date with the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994. As these regulations require manufacturers to ensure that washing machines they place on the market are safe, this means any filter used in the product must also be safe. There are no plans to review these requirements. Manufacturers can create a presumption of compliance with the legislation by conforming to relevant Harmonised European safety standards. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is responsible for environmental protection policy.

Bombardier: USA

Lady Hermon: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish the papers his Department submitted to the US International Trade Commission in support of Bombardier in Belfast in relation to that company's dispute with Boeing in the US; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Griffiths: The Government has submitted over 7,000 pages of argument and evidence to the US International Trade Administration and International Trade Commission. These are publically available [subject to some redactions of confidential information] at: https://access.trade.gov and https://edis.usitc.gov respectively. We continue to work closely with Canada and Bombardier, and our submissions complement theirs.I refer the hon. Member to the answer given to her by my right hon. Friend the Minister of State for Energy and Clean Growth on 16 January 2017 to Question 122103.

Biofuels

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department plans to take to encourage the development of (a) SMEs and (b) other businesses in the bio-energy Industry.

Claire Perry: The Industrial Strategy white paper sets out a long-term plan to boost the productivity and earning power of people throughout the UK. Through the Clean Growth Grand Challenge we will maximise the advantages for UK industry from the global shift to clean growth. The upcoming UK Bioeconomy Strategy will build on these themes to set out a framework for growth for companies within the bioeconomy, including those working in the bioenergy sector.

Land Registry: Electronic Government

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Written Ministerial Statement of 18 January 2018, HCWS409, on Departmental Contingent Liability Notification (HM Land Registry Digital Mortgage Service), what estimate he has made of the number of people who will use Verify while signing mortgage documents electronically by 2020.

Andrew Griffiths: HM Land Registry forecasts that it will receive approximately 140,000 digital mortgage applications per year by 2020. Many mortgage applications will be signed by more than one person, and as such HMLR estimates that by 2020 approximately 210,000 people per year will use GOV.UK Verify to sign mortgage deeds electronically.

Incinerators: Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information his Department holds on the amount of  CO2e that is emitted for every tonne of waste that is incinerated.

Claire Perry: According to the latest Conversion Factors for Company Reporting, published in August 2017, the conversion factor of incineration of any waste material is 21.8 kg CO2e per tonne. Therefore each tonne of waste that is incinerated will release 21.8 kg CO2e of emissions. Source: Conversion Factors 2017, available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/635632/Conversion_factors_2017_-_Condensed_set__for_most_users__v02-00.xls

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Former Members

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many former Conservative Members of Parliament who were defeated at the 2017 general election and who now work in his Department were appointed after a publicly advertised and open recruitment process.

Andrew Griffiths: No former Conservative Members of Parliament have been appointed to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, or its Partner Organisations, since the 2017 General Election.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Beverage Containers

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many disposable coffee cups were purchased by his Department in each of the last five years.

Andrew Griffiths: The Department was created in July 2016. The Department’s catering supplier, Baxter Storey, purchased the following disposable cups for use in the staff restaurants and coffee shops: YearNo. of cups201660,832201748,912 The Department makes provision for recycling and has specially marked recycling bins throughout the Department.

Fuel Poverty

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, with reference to the report Cutting the cost of keeping warm: a fuel poverty strategy for England, published in March 2015, cm 9019, what progress the Government has made on reducing fuel poverty in (a) Oxfordshire and (b) England since the publication of that report.

Claire Perry: We have not yet quantify progress in reducing fuel poverty in Oxfordshire since the year 2015. The latest official statistics cover the year 2015 and show that 9.6% of homes in Oxfordshire were fuel poor, which is below the national average of 11%. Official statistics for the year 2016 will be published this summer.Since 2015 Government has taken action to tackle fuel poverty. This includes reforming the £640m Energy Company Obligation to increase the expenditure under the scheme which is focused in low income households from £310m to £450m in 2017. We will be consulting soon on focussing the whole of ECO on low income and vulnerable households from October 2018.

Tickets: Sales

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what additional funding has been allocated to National Trading Standards to enforce relevant consumer legislation on secondary ticketing in (a) 2017-18, (b) 2018-19 and (c) 2019-20.

Andrew Griffiths: National Trading Standards have been tasked with investigating potential enforcement cases against sellers and secondary ticketing websites that do not comply with legislation from within their current and forthcoming annual budgets. The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy provides National Trading Standards with £13.25m per year for the coordination of regional and national Trading Standards activity in England and Wales. The National Trading Standards Board has allocated £300,000 towards investigation work on ticketing for this current financial year but has not yet allocated budgets for 2018-19 and 2019-20.

Broadband

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether the proposed Consumer Green Paper is planned to contain any measures to improve consumer representation in the mobile and broadband market.

Andrew Griffiths: The Consumer Green Paper will tackle areas where markets are not working well for consumers.

Tickets: Sales

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when his Department plans to issue updated guidance on s90 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 to take account of the changes made by the Digital Economy Act 2017.

Andrew Griffiths: The Department has been consulting key stakeholders and will publish updated guidance on s.90 of the Consumer Rights Act 2015 on the Business Companion website in due course.

Incinerators: Carbon Emissions

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information his Department holds on biogenic CO2e emissions from waste incineration with energy recovery; and where such information is published.

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the data reported by his Department to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change were for (a) biogenic and (b) non-biogenic CO2e emissions from UK waste incineration in each year since 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: Defra commissioned a report “Biodegradability of municipal solid waste” (project reference WR1003) which provides measurements of the biogenic content of waste by mass. Waste incinerators which are in receipt of government support are required by OfGEM to either provide assessments of the biogenic content of the waste or to use a disadvantageous default value. The Defra report is available on their science and research project website:http://randd.defra.gov.uk/Document.aspx?Document=12266_WR1003BiodegradabilityofMSWReportfinal.pdf.Emissions from UK waste incineration are included in the UK Greenhouse gas emissions inventory annually:http://unfccc.int/national_reports/annex_i_ghg_inventories/national_inventories_submissions/items/10116.php.These emissions estimates are split by biogenic and non-biogenic, however this is not possible for municipal solid waste (MSW).Emissions from UK waste incineration, including waste incineration with energy recovery, for the years 2010-2015 were as follows:Million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) 201020112012201320142015Total UK waste incineration (includes waste incineration with energy recovery)12.22.12.32.22.83.6Of which: Non-biogenic (including all MSW)2.12.12.32.22.73.5Biogenic0.10.10.10.10.00.01 Totals may not sum due to roundingThis includes emissions from methane (CH4) and Nitrous Oxide (N2O) as well as carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.These emissions are included in our annual submission to the UNFCCC. Waste incineration can be found in table 5 of the Convention tables on the UNFCCC website:http://unfccc.int/files/national_reports/annex_i_ghg_inventories/national_inventories_submissions/application/zip/gbr-2017-crf-13apr17.zipThe numbers above do not match the numbers presented in the table 5 of the Convention tables submitted to the UNFCCC as waste incineration with energy recovery is reported under the energy supply sector (table 1).Source: http://unfccc.int/national_reports/annex_i_ghg_inventories/national_inventories_submissions/items/10116.php

Food: Production

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what information his Department holds on the amount of coal used in the production of food in the UK in each year since 1992 for which data is available; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: BEIS does not hold coal consumption statistics at this level of disaggregation; however, the table below presents the final consumption of coal by the UK food and beverage industry as a whole from 2005 to 2016: Final consumption of coal by the UK food and beverage industry, 2005 – 2016: Thousand tonnes  Thousand tonnes200526 201145200625 201244200734 201355200839 201462200948 201554201043 201644 Source: Digest of UK Energy Statistics, table 2.4, available athttps://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/solid-fuels-and-derived-gases-chapter-2-digest-of-united-kingdom-energy-statistics-dukes

Renewable Energy

Paul Masterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how much the Government has invested in renewable energy through the Contract for Difference programme since 2010.

Claire Perry: To date, contracts have been signed to bring forward nearly 10 gigawatts of renewable generation capacity, with the first of these recently beginning to generate. Government support for these projects is expected to rise to around £2.5 billion a year by 2024/25 (in 2011/12 prices). Our sustained support has helped deliver dramatic falls in the costs of renewable technologies such as offshore wind. The Government is committed to delivering clean, smart, and flexible power, which is why in our ambitious Clean Growth Strategy we committed up to £557 million of annual support for further Contracts for Difference, with the next one planned for spring 2019 (in 2011/12 prices).

Tickets: Sales

Steve Double: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has better to regulate online ticket sales companies to ensure that (a) consumers are protected when a company fails to supply the tickets and (b) a full refund is easy to obtain.

Andrew Griffiths: Consumer Protection legislation is in place to protect consumers where traders, including online ticket resale companies, fail to deliver what they promise. Consumers who have had problems should contact the Citizens Advice consumer service on 03454 04 05 06 (or through its website). The helpline service offers consumers free advice on their rights and how to seek redress. The Competition and Markets Authority is investigating online secondary ticket sites and is considering in particular, difficulties for customers in getting their money back under a website’s guarantee.

Utilities: Cooperatives

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the use of a cooperative model of ownership for gas and water providers.

Claire Perry: The Government has not assessed the use of a cooperative model of ownership for gas or water.

Gratuities

Paula Sherriff: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy of 12 December 2017, Official Report, column 166, what guidance has been issued on tipping; and what the evidential basis is for the statement there has been a significant improvement since his Department commissioned the review of tipping, gratuities and hospitality.

Andrew Griffiths: The Government has been clear that employers should not make unreasonable deductions from the tips their staff receive. Furthermore, guidance on the National Minimum Wage explains that income from tips can not be used to top up a worker’s pay to the National Minimum Wage. The Government consultation on tipping practices published in 2016 also explained the law on how income from tips should be handled. Since the publication of that consultation, the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers and Unite the Union have established a joint Code of Practice for good practice in handling tips. The Government supports these efforts, and will respond to that consultation in due course.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Departmental Responsibilities

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will publish the responsibilities of each Minister of his Department.

Richard Harrington: The responsibilities of each Minister in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy are published on Gov.uk at:https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-business-energy-and-industrial-strategy

Energy: Consumers

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to encourage consumers to switch energy providers.

Claire Perry: Holding answer received on 25 January 2018



The number of customers switching between energy suppliers continues to increase – approximately 7.8 million energy switches took place in 2016 - an increase of nearly 1.7 million on 2015. The Government worked with Ofgem and industry to change the industry rules so that it is now possible for customers to switch suppliers in up to 21 days. This has been enshrined as the minimum standard in the Energy Switch Guarantee, launched in June 2016. Prior to this it took around 5 weeks to switch. We continue to work with Energy UK who administer the Guarantee to strengthen and promote it to give consumers greater confidence that the process of switching energy supplier will be simple, speedy and safe. We are working closely with Ofgem on their switching programme to enable consumers to switch their energy supplier reliably and quickly delivering next day switching as a new industry standard and improving reliability of the switching process through better management and oversight of industry data. The Government has provided £1.3m funding for the Big Energy Saving Network and Big Energy Saving Week this winter to fund third sector organisations and community groups, to support vulnerable consumers so they can switch and save.

Carillion

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the Official Receiver and his Special Managers on support for sub-contractors of Carillion since that company entered liquidation. .

Andrew Griffiths: The Official Receiver is appointed by the courts and is independent of Government. My rt. hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, and I are therefore keen to facilitate dialogue between the Official Receiver and companies impacted by Carillion’s insolvency. Therefore we have invited representatives from PwC in their capacity as special managers on behalf of the Official Receiver to two meetings chaired by my rt. hon. Friend; the first, a meeting with the major trade associations and construction trade associations on 17 January and the second on 22 January to the second meeting of the Carillion Task Force comprising trade associations, TUC and other interested parties. These meetings have enabled PWC to expand the information on their dedicated website for Carillion suppliers - www.pwc.co.uk/carillion.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Health: Finance

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what meetings (a) Ministers in his Department and (b) officials in his Department have had with Public Health England on the public health grant in the last 12 months.

Rishi Sunak: Officials from my Department attend a monthly meeting hosted by both Public Health England (PHE) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) which specifically focuses on matters relating to the Public Health Grant. In addition to such meetings, officials from my Department have frequent ad-hoc dialogue on the Public Health Grant with their counterparts from PHE and DHSC.

Prosperity Fund

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of the 15 January 2018 to Question 121225, which projects listed in the Prosperity Fund's Annual Report 2016-17 and spend data were subject to spend controls;  what those spend controls were; and if he will make a statement.

Jake Berry: My Department continues to develop the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. The Fund has not yet launched and as such there are no projects to which spending controls can apply.

Retail Trade: Urban Areas

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the vibrancy and resilience of the high street of the presence of (a) rental purchase retailers, (b) bookmakers, (c) payday lenders and (d) pawnbrokers.

Jake Berry: Issues about the particular make-up of individual high streets are for the relevant local authority to address. They are best placed to determine how to help their local high streets, ensuring that their high streets meet the needs of the local community and maximise local growth in their areas. Ultimately, if a high street is to flourish, then local people, businesses and councils in an area need to work together to develop their own unique offer for the high street that resonates with the local community.The Government recognises that this is a difficult time for high streets and has taken significant actions to help high streets adapt and thrive. These include making pragmatic changes to planning rules in England, such as allowing more changes of use on the high street, including the change of use for up to two years to support retail and business start-ups, and supporting helpful reforms to parking. Also in England, from 2015 a planning application is required for any new betting office or pay-day loan shop. The Government is also committed to communities establishing Business Improvement Districts and the positive impact they have on their local areas, including town centres.

Local Government Finance: Cornwall

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many representations he has received from Cornish business groups prior to the announcement of the local government finance settlement.

Rishi Sunak: Prior to the provisional settlement, my Department held a technical consultation in September 2017 on the planned approach to the 2018-19 local government finance settlement. We received a total of 330 representations of which none were from Cornish business groups.

Social Rented Housing

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the regulation of the social housing sector.

Dominic Raab: Social housing is a priority for this Government. We are committed to ensuring that social homes are safe, decent, well managed and suitable for the needs of the people who live in them. The Regulation Committee within the Homes England - known as the Regulator of Social Housing - is responsible for overseeing the regulation of social housing. The Regulator of Social Housing is responsible for setting and ensuring compliance with economic and consumer regulation standards that apply to providers who are registered with it. The Regulator also has a number of tools available to take action where there is evidence that a registered provider is not meeting its requirements.The Tailored Review of the Homes and Communities Agency, now Homes England, was carried out in 2016 This Review assessed the structure and delivery of the regulatory function within the Agency. The Review was clear that it had heard much evidence from registered providers, lenders and others in the sector that the Regulation Committee and its functions were seen as independent, strong and credible. The Review recommended the separation of the Regulator of Social Housing into a new standalone Non Departmental Public Body to address any conflict of interest that could potentially arise from the Agency’s current configuration. We have consulted on proposals to put in place arrangements to do so.

Housing: Construction

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the housing capacity of public land disposed of to date; and what proportion of homes built on that land will be affordable.

Dominic Raab: Holding answer received on 23 January 2018



Between 2011 and 2015, the Government exceeded its target of selling surplus public sector land with the capacity for 100,000 homes.The Public Land for Housing programme 2015-20 annual report was published in February 2017 and shows the land disposed of for housing. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-land-for-housing-programme-2015-to-2020-annual-reportThe Public Land for Housing Programmes was designed to specifically address the shortage of land for housing but we want to ensure that homes are built on that land. We are now monitoring the progress of sites sold through both the 2011-15 and 2015-20 Public Land for Housing Programmes, in order to estimate the number, type and tenure of homes under construction.

Carillion

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will place in the Library copies any analysis that (a) his Department or (b) Homes England have conducted on the exposure of the housing market to the liquidation of Carillion.

Jake Berry: Holding answer received on 23 January 2018



The Department and Homes England continue to monitor risks across the housing market, including their exposure to financial risk as a result of Carillion’s liquidation. As these risk assessments contain commercially sensitive information, we do not publish them.Furthermore, the Regulator for Social Housing has been in touch with housing associations in England to assess those that might have been affected by the collapse of Carillion. So far, the Regulator has not been alerted to any immediate difficulties and will continue to monitor this.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government: Beverage Containers

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many disposable coffee cups were purchased by his Department in each of the last five years.

Jake Berry: The information requested is not held centrally. Disposable coffee cups are purchased by an external catering supplier, which was unable to provide this information.The catering facilities in the Department’s headquarters office in 2 Marsham Street are provided through the Home Office. The coffee cups used in the Department’s headquarters office in 2 Marsham Street are biodegradable.Staff and visitors are encouraged to dispose of waste appropriately and userecycling bins where it is appropriate to do so.

Supported Housing: Finance

Peter Aldous: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what protections he plans to put in place for people who need supported housing once the Government’s local grant fund, as proposed in the consultation document, Funding Support Housing, is exhausted in a specific local authority area.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: We will be working closely with local government to ensure this does not happen.We are clear that in the year of introduction in 2020-21 the level of grant will be equivalent to the spend on short-term supported housing had it remained in the welfare system. We will work closely with local authorities over 2018 and 2019 to determine local grant allocations, and will continue to monitor progress over 2020.Grant funding after 2020-21 will be set on the basis of current projections of future need, and will continue to take into account the costs of provision. We will also continue to work with local authorities.

Parking

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will introduce a single code of conduct for private parking operators; and if he will estimate the number of car parking fine appeals that have been processed in each year since 2010.

Rishi Sunak: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Affordable Housing: Construction

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department has made of the number of organisations that will miss the deadline for the completion of grant-funded homes under the Affordable Homes Programme 2015 to 2018; and what estimate he has made of the number of homes that will not be completed under that same programme's deadline.

Dominic Raab: The Affordable Homes Programme is delivered through the Greater London Authority for London and by Homes England outside of London.The contractual date for completion of affordable homes in the Affordable Homes Programme 2015-18 is 31 March 2018. With the introduction of the 2016-21 programme part way through this programme the deadline was incorporated into the 2016-21 programme.The programme will contain a proportion of homes due to be completed at later dates, where there has been valid delay to the build programme. Where such instances arise each request is individually assessed before a later forecast build completion date is accepted, reducing the possibilities of an organisation missing the deadline.It is not possible to give a nationwide figure for the number of homes that will not be completed under the programme's deadline as this would pre-empt the publication of the national statistics.

Local Government Finance

Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the amount of financial reserves held by each local authority was in England in each year since 2009-10.

Rishi Sunak: Information on financial reserves by all local authorities in England are published each year on the Department's website: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/local-authority-revenue-expenditure-and-financing

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will publish the report produced by Atkins for his Department’s industry response group on advice to building owners on cladding and insulation systems in tower blocks.

Dominic Raab: The government established an Industry Response Group in June 2017, following the Grenfell Tower Fire, to advise on immediate steps to ensure building safety. Working with Atkins and the Industry Response Group, the Department produced an Information Note to assist building owners to assess what measures should be taken to make their buildings safe. This Information Note was published by the Department in December 2017 and can be found on gov.uk.https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/information-note-for-landlords-and-building-owners-of-tall-residential-buildings-with-acm-cladding

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the timescale is for all privately-owned tower blocks with dangerous aluminium composite material cladding to have been identified.

Dominic Raab: Nothing is more important than keeping people safe. We wrote to all local authority chief executives on 11 August 2017 asking them to identify private sector residential buildings over 18 metres with Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding in their area. This work is ongoing and my Department will provide monthly updates on progress through Gov.uk.These updates are at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/building-safety-programme#data-on-the-building-safety-progamme.

High Rise Flats: Fire Prevention

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what information his Department holds on the number of privately-owned tower blocks identified with dangerous aluminium composite material cladding which have had such cladding replaced.

Dominic Raab: The Department’s most recent data release can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/building-safety-programme-monthly-data-release-january-2018, which was published 22 January 2018.

Leasehold: Fire Prevention

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he is taking to ensure that leaseholders do not pay the full cost of any vital fire safety work as a result of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Dominic Raab: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Defence

Trident

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the compatibility of replacing trident with the Government’s policy on nuclear non-proliferation.

Mark Lancaster: We remain committed to creating the conditions for a world without nuclear weapons, and fulfilling our obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which remains the cornerstone of the global non-proliferation regime. But we must continue to maintain a credible nuclear deterrent for as long as the global situation demands. Given the current threat to international security, and the reality that this will continue for the foreseeable future our independent nuclear deterrent remains as vital today as it ever has.

Military Decorations: Veterans

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether there are options available to ex-servicemen and women who wish to officially return their service medals.

Mark Lancaster: When medals are no longer required by a veteran they should be returned to the Ministry of Defence Medal Office. Returned medals are normally retained for a period of six months before being destroyed.

Joint Strike Fighter Aircraft

Jamie Stone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of the cost of F-35 Lightenings being purchased for the British Armed Forces will be accrued by UK contractors involved in their production.

Guto Bebb: Approximately 15% by value of every one of the 3,000 aircraft in the worldwide F-35 programme will be produced in the UK, bringing significant economic benefits to the nation.

Type 31 Frigates

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the National Shipbuilding Strategy, what the evidential basis is for his Department's decision to set the objective of exporting 40 Type 31e frigates.

Guto Bebb: With reference to the National Shipbuilding Strategy no Departmental objective has been set for the export of 40 Type 31e frigates. The Government has assessed that there is a potential light frigate market of around 40 ships over the next 10 years.

Type 31 Frigates

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the answer given by his Department’s Permanent Secretary to question 45 in evidence to the Public Accounts Committee on Wednesday 10 January 2018, HC 723, what the evidential basis is for efficiencies being produced by adopting the procurement model outlined in the National Shipbuilding Strategy for the Type 31 frigate.

Guto Bebb: Informed by Sir John Parker's independent report, the National Shipbuilding Strategy concluded that that there was a competitive market for Type 31e. The use of competition remains the cornerstone of Defence procurement as a means of driving innovation and industrial performance and providing value for money for the taxpayer.

Royal Fleet Auxiliary

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to treat fleet solid support ships as warships for tendering purposes.

Guto Bebb: The National Shipbuilding Strategy makes clear that all non-warships, which includes the Fleet Solid Support vessels, will be subject to international competition.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the status of the Warrior Capability and Sustainment Programme is.

Guto Bebb: The Warrior Capability Sustainment Programme is in the Demonstration Phase. A prototype vehicle has already undergone initial live firing and a rigorous trials programme will start shortly.

Defence: Industry

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Industry for Defence and a Prosperous Britain: Refreshing Defence Industrial Policy, published on 20 December 2017, what is the budget is for the Supplier Portal and how many people are employed for the Supplier Portal.

Guto Bebb: The Supplier Portal is delivered by our service provider as part of a concession contract. The content of the portal is maintained by the Ministry of Defence's Supply Chain Development team, consisting of four people, as part of its wider remit to provide supplier outreach activities.

Defence: Industry

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Industry for Defence and a Prosperous Britain: Refreshing Defence Industrial Policy, published on 20 December 2017, what internal guidance his Department has on engaging potential SME suppliers.

Guto Bebb: The Ministry of Defence's Acquisition System Guidance contains significant guidance and examples of good practice on how to engage effectively with SMEs. This guidance is reinforced with specific SME content on internal training courses and through periodic coverage in internal newsletters and other publications.

Defence: Industry

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to Industry for Defence and a Prosperous Britain: Refreshing Defence Industrial Policy, published on 20 December 2017, which of his Department's bodies or agencies are responsible for scrutinising supply chain plans for competitive contracts with a value of more than £100 million.

Guto Bebb: Project delivery teams are responsible for assessing Industry Supply Chain Plans as part of contract management activity.

Ministry of Defence: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on how many occasions suppliers engaged in single-source contracts with his Department have successfully appealed contracts in court resulting in changes to those contract prices.

Guto Bebb: There have been no occasions when suppliers engaged in single-source contracts with the Ministry of Defence have successfully appealed contracts in court resulting in changes to those contract prices.

Artillery

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to procure a new artillery system to support his Department’s planned strike brigades.

Guto Bebb: The Ministry of Defence is currently considering the artillery system requirement for the armoured infantry and strike brigades.

Germany: Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with his German counterpart on the Mechanised Infantry Vehicle programme.

Guto Bebb: The Secretary of State for Defence regularly holds discussions with his international colleagues on a number of topics.

Carillion

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many individual contracts existed between his Department and Carillion at the time of that company’s liquidation; and how many of those contracts were joint ventures with other suppliers.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: As of 15 January 2018 the Ministry of Defence had eleven contracts with Carillion which were still delivering services. Eight of these contracts were joint ventures with other suppliers.

Ministry of Defence: Contracts

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, which of his Department’s contracts which were joint ventures that included (a) Carillion and (b) Babcock are being renegotiated.

Mr Tobias Ellwood: None of the joint venture contracts that include Carillion and Babcock are being renegotiated.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the delivery time-frame is for the Oshkosh Joint Light Tactical Vehicle as part of his Department’s Multi Role Vehicle Protected Group 1 requirement.

Guto Bebb: The Multi Role Vehicle - Protected (MVR-P) project is still going through the approvals process, and is not yet on contract. Therefore there is no fixed time frame for its delivery.

Armoured Fighting Vehicles

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department plans to procure a single family fleet of light protected mobility platforms for the armed forces.

Guto Bebb: The Army seeks to maintain an optimum combination of light protected mobility platforms, taking into consideration operational requirements and value for money. No single fleet would be able to meet all of the Ministry of Defence's requirements.

Single Source Regulations Office

Nia Griffith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans to appoint a new permanent Chief Executive of the Single Source Regulation Office.

Guto Bebb: Executive members of the Single Source Regulations Office (SSRO), including the Chief Executive, are appointed by the SSRO Board and not by the Ministry of Defence. We understand from the SSRO that the process of appointing for this post will begin shortly.

Ministry of Defence: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many contracts his Department holds with Government strategic suppliers.

Guto Bebb: The Ministry of Defence currently holds 1,029 contracts with the Government's strategic suppliers.

Aircraft Carriers

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what account his Department takes of the effect of potential currency fluctuations on its ability to deliver Carrier Enabled Power Projection; and if he will make a statement.

Guto Bebb: Cost approvals for the constituent programmes of Carrier Enabled Power Projection (Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers, F-35B Lightning 2, Crowsnest) include provision to address FOREX risks. This will continue to be monitored, and as necessary, can be prioritised against the delegated and the overall departmental position.

Army: Recruitment

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the difference has been in his Department's business case spending compared to its actual spending on the Army Recruiting Partnership Project since the 2011-12 financial year.

Mark Lancaster: The Recruiting Partnership Project is a ten-year output based contract between the Army and the service provider (Capita), spend includes both the Service Provider and Defence costs. For the period from contract award (February 2012) to 31 March 2017 against a Main Gate Approval of £698.4 million the actual spend has been £751.9 million. The overall cost increase within the contract is primarily a result of the decision to transfer responsibility for the delivery of the Information Communication Technology, including the Defence Recruiting System from Defence to the Service Provider.

Defence Equipment: Procurement

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the budget is for each programme in his Department's equipment plan.

Guto Bebb: The Ministry of Defence is due to publish the Equipment Plan 2017 to 2027 by the end of this Financial Year, setting out its plans for expenditure on equipment procurement and support. The report will provide an analysis of the budget allocated to each operating centre over the ten year period.

HM Treasury

Boats: VAT

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps the Department is taking to ensure that the UK market for second-hand recreational boats is not affected by different levels of VAT paid in the UK and the EU after the UK leaves the EU.

Mel Stride: The future VAT rules for goods moving between the UK and the EU, including arrangements relating to recreational boats, will depend on the outcome of negotiations with the EU.

Public Private Partnerships: Disclosure of Information

Jon Trickett: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to update his Department's transparency release entitled Private Finance Initiative and Private Finance 2 projects.

Robert Jenrick: The 2017 edition of the annual data on Private Finance Initiative and Private Finance 2 contracts will be released very soon.

Carillion: Company Liquidations

John McDonnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the potential cost to the public purse of the liquidation of Carillion.

Elizabeth Truss: The Official Receiver is conducting an orderly liquidation, preserving public services with the support of various government customers and otherwise preserving the company’s assets having due regard for the costs he’s incurring.

Treasury: Carillion

John McDonnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he or officials representing the Treasury met representatives from Carillion in the past 24 months.

John McDonnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what were (a) the dates of and (b) the topics discussed at any meetings that he or officials representing the Treasury attended with representatives from Carillion in the past 24 months.

John McDonnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on the effect of the liquidation of Carillion plc on (a) jobs and (b) public finances.

John McDonnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will publish the minutes of any meetings which were held between Carillion and (a) HM Revenue and Customs and (b) his Department on monitoring the performance of Carillion in the last three years.

John McDonnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, If he will publish the dates of any meetings which were held between Carillion and (a) HMRC and (b) his Department on monitoring the performance of Carillion in the past five years.

Elizabeth Truss: Treasury ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations are published on a quarterly basis and are available at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel

Treasury: Carillion

John McDonnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, How many contracts with Carillion have been signed by his Department since 13 July 2016.

John McDonnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, How many (a) PFI and (b) PF2 contracts were signed by his Department since 13 July 2016.

Elizabeth Truss: Since January 2011, details of central government contracts above the value of £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts published prior to 26 February 2015 can be viewed at: https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive. Those published after 26 February 2015 can be viewed at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search.

Carillion

John McDonnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what criteria his Department has used to approve and monitor contracts to Carillion since 2010; and what due diligence his Department undertakes before awarding contracts to companies that have issued profit warnings.

John McDonnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, If he will place a copy of each risk assessment undertaken by his Department relating to Government contracts secured by Carillion since January 2015 in the Library.

Elizabeth Truss: Departments continually monitor the operational performance of contracts to ensure the best outcome for taxpayers.Since January 2011, details of central government contracts above the value of £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts published prior to 26 February 2015 can be viewed at: https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive. Those published after 26 February 2015 can be viewed at: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search.

Carillion

John McDonnell: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate his Department has made of the cost to the public purse of replacing Carillion contracts.

Elizabeth Truss: Our top priority is to keep public services running. We have carried out extensive scenario planning, and expect all vital public services to run as normal. Government will provide funding for public services to enable them to continue in the immediate future and to enable some of them to be run by new suppliers.

Treasury: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many contracts his Department holds with Government strategic suppliers.

Robert Jenrick: The Government is committed to maintaining transparency about its procurement activity and publishes information about its contracts with a value of over £10,000 on the “Contracts Finder” website. The information requested is readily available there.

Treasury: Brexit

Jo Platt: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2018 to Question 122519, for what reasons the titles of all assessments carried out by his Department on the effect of the UK leaving the EU were not listed.

John Glen: The government is in the process of carrying out a programme of rigorous and extensive analytical work that will contribute to our exit negotiations with the EU and inform our understanding of how EU exit will affect the UK’s domestic policies and frameworks. However, it is not standard practice to provide an ongoing commentary on internal analysis. Ministers have a specific responsibility, which Parliament has endorsed, not to release information that would expose our negotiating position.

Child Care Vouchers: Coventry South

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many claimants of childcare vouchers there were in Coventry South constituency in each year since April 2010.

Elizabeth Truss: I refer the Honourable Member to the answer I gave on 25 January 2017 to the Honourable Member for Hull North (123405).

Export Controls: Arrests

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2018 to Question 123165, what the dates were of each of the five arrests made; what the names were of each of the people arrested; and what the details of the charges were by section of the 2008 control order.

Mel Stride: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) does not release the details of investigations where no conviction has taken place or the names of those individuals or companies that HMRC have previously, or are currently, investigating. Details of the prosecution for a trafficking and brokering offence arising under the provisions of the Export Control Order 2008 are as follows: One individual was arrested in March 2011 for promoting the supply or delivery of handguns and hand-held surface to air missiles to Azerbaijan, in contravention of the Export Control Order 2008. In July 2012, they were found guilty on both counts and sentenced to three and a half years in respect of missiles and two and a half years in respect of the handguns, to run concurrently. The action HMRC takes in respect of breaches of export controls will depend on the nature and seriousness of any offence, and that action is not limited to investigation with a view to prosecution.

Energy: VAT

Clive Lewis: To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, when he plans to respond to his Department's consultation on VAT on energy-saving materials of December 2015.

Mel Stride: HM Revenue and Customs’ consultation closed on 3 February 2016. HM Treasury are discussing the practical application of the Court of Justice of the European Union’s judgment regarding the UK’s application of VAT law in respect to energy saving materials with the European Commission.

Department for International Trade

Developing Countries: Motor Vehicles

Stephen Kerr: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether his Department has had discussions with the Global Vehicle Trust on export support for the Ox flat-packed truck for the developing world.

Graham Stuart: My Department has actively supported the Global Vehicle Trust (GVT) in promoting the OX, and in seeking investors and manufacturing partners. This support included helping arrange for the OX to be displayed at the Low Carbon Vehicle show at Millbrook, Bedfordshire in 2016, and introducing GVT to potential international partners at the show; and discussions in 2017 between our Post in India and potential local partners. My Department continues to offer its support to this project.

Turkey: Military Aircraft

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what discussions his Department has had with (a) BAe and (b) Rolls Royce on the viability of the Turkish Government's plan to field a prototype aircraft by 2023 as part of its TF-X indigenous fighter programme.

Graham Stuart: The Department has had a number of discussions with both companies and TAI and SSM regarding the future timetable for production of the TF-X aircraft.

Turkey: Foreign Relations

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, who travelled with him in his delegation to Turkey on Friday 12 January 2018.

Graham Stuart: My Rt Hon Friend the Secretary of State for International Trade was accompanied on his visit to Turkey by a private secretary, special adviser and press officer as is common for ministers undertaking high-profile international visits.

Trade Remedies Authority

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many of his Department's staff are working on establishing the proposed new Trade Remedies Authority.

Graham Stuart: There are currently 25 members of staff within the Department for International Trade tasked with the policy and framework development, including creating legislation, for the Trade Remedies Authority. Specialist staff may also be called upon, such as lawyers.

Trade Remedies Authority

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what his plans are for the staff requirement upon full establishment of the proposed Trade Remedies Authority.

Greg Hands: We are currently undertaking an organisation design process to determine the precise capacity and capability requirements for the Trade Remedies Authority. We have reviewed the structures, caseloads and resources of a range of trade remedies systems. We have also worked closely with counterparts in other UK government departments and arm’s-length bodies. We are committed to creating an organisation that has the appropriate number of people, skills and infrastructure to investigate cases and assess injury quickly and effectively, in order to ensure that we can continue to protect UK Business from unfair and injurious trading practices.

Arms Trade: Trade Fairs

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to Answer of 15 January 2018 to Question 122006 on Arms Trade: Trade Fairs, if he will publish the ranks of the Military Escort Officers who attended (a) DSEI 2017 and  (b) Farnborough 2016; and what the ranks are of the Military Escort Officers who are planned to attend the Security and Policing expo in Farnborough in March 2018.

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2018 to Question 122006, how many ranks of the Military Escort Officers chaperoned each national delegation to which they were assigned for (a) DSEI 2017 and (b) Farnborough 2016; and how many ranks of the Military Escort Officers are planned to chaperone each national delegation to which are to be assigned for the Security and Policing expo in Farnborough in March 2018.

Graham Stuart: The number of countries attending, number of Military Escort Officers and their ranks are shown in the tables below for both Defence and Security Equipment International 2017 (DSEI) and Farnborough International Airshow 2016 (FIA). The number and ranks of Military Escort Officers who will volunteer at Security and Policing 2018 is not yet known.Farnborough International Airshow 2016Number of CountriesNumber of Military Escort OfficersRank of Military Escort Officers354Second Lieutenant3Lieutenant14Captain24Major1Colonel3Flying Officer2Squadron Leader1Pilot Officer5Flight Lieutenant1Lieutenant Commander   Defence and Security Equipment International 2017Number of CountriesNumber of Military Escort OfficersRank of Military Escort Officers442Second Lieutenant10Lieutenant17Captain27Major1Lieutenant Colonel2Flying Officer1Commander2Pilot Officer2Flight Lieutenant4Lieutenant Commander8Lieutenant Royal Navy3Second Lieutenant Royal Navy   Source: DIT DSO Inward Visits Unit Military Escort Officers are drawn from both the Reserves and the Regular Armed Forces. One Military Escort Officer is normally assigned to chaperone each foreign delegation attending.

Trade Agreements

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2018 to Question 120867, on Trade Agreements, for what reason he has not listed the organisations that submitted responses to his Trade White Paper.

Greg Hands: I refer the Hon Member for Sefton Central to the answer given by me on 17 January. UIN: 122189

EU Trade

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2018 to Question 122986, what representations he has received on whether the adoption of existing EU Free Trade Agreements with third party countries can only happen with the agreement of the EU and those countries.

Greg Hands: Since the Trade White Paper was published, the Government has engaged extensively with stakeholders and will continue this programme of engagement until continuity in trade agreements is secured.Respondents have welcomed the government’s commitment to providing stability and certainty for businesses and consumers, by seeking to continue existing EU-Third country trade agreements. The Government is working towards this end.

Women and Equalities

Gender Recognition

Catherine West: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether her Department has made an assessment of the findings in the Stonewall report LGBT in Britain: Trans Report.

Victoria Atkins: The Government Equalities Office has seen the report and is considering its findings. The report makes an important contribution to the evidence base on transgender equality.We will assess the report in conjunction with the findings from the National LGBT survey, which received over 100,000 responses.This Government is committed to advancing transgender equality. As part of this, we will soon be bringing forward a consultation on amending the Gender Recognition Act in order to make the legal recognition process less bureaucratic and intrusive for trans people.

Gender Recognition

Catherine West: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether she or her officials have met representatives from Stonewall to discuss Stonewall's LGBT in Britain: Trans Report.

Amber Rudd: I have met with Stonewall since my appointment as Minister for Women and Equalities and we discussed this report.My officials also regularly engage with Stonewall on various matters associated with LGBT Policy, including how the Government can improve outcomes for transgender people.

Department for Transport

Cycling and Walking: South West

Mr Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much his Department has allocated to (a) Plymouth and (b) Devon for projects relating to his Department's cycling and walking investment strategy in the financial year 2017-18.

Jesse Norman: The Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy identified £1.2 billion that may be invested in cycling and walking between 2016/17 to 2020/21. Many of the decisions on the allocation of these funds will be made by the relevant local body in line with the Government’s devolution and localism agenda. The tables below provide a guide to the funding allocated in 2017/18 to Plymouth and Devon identified in the Cycling and Walking Investment Strategy. Plymouth City Council Funding programme£mAccess Fund0.499Integrated Transport Block*0.291Bikeability (national cycling training)0.142Total0.932 Devon County Council Funding programme£mAccess Fund0.5Integrated Transport Block*0.540Bikeability (national cycling training)0.280Total1.32 The Department is also providing technical support to Plymouth City Council to assist with the development of their Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan. The level of support has yet to be determined. The Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership has allocated £18.330m to cycling and walking projects between 2016/17 and 2020/21.** *This is based on a survey of Local Transport Authorities published by the Department in February 2016 revealed that 11% of this fund supports cycling schemes and 4% supports streetscape and Rights of Way schemes.** This is based on self-reported data received from the Local Enterprise Partnership.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidelines on the remit of the HS2 Phase 2a Bill he plans to provide the Select Committee about the Crewe Hub.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: It is for the House to agree any instruction to the Select Committee which will consider the High Speed Rail (West Midlands – Crewe) Bill and there is a motion on the order paper which relates to that instruction. Furthermore, we have recently consulted on proposals for a Crewe Hub and expect to publish our response shortly.

Transport: Apprentices

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many new apprenticeships have been created in the transport sector in each of the last five years.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Department for Education have published apprenticeship starts by subject area over the required time period. The Department for Transport began reporting in 2016 through the Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce (STAT). The STAT “One year on” report sets out apprentice starts in: DfT; Roads and Rail client bodies; and the supply chain, generated through procurement contracting. In 2016-17, 2,000 apprenticeships were delivered in roads and rail. A report covering 2017 to 2018 is due to be published this summer. The Transport Infrastructure Skills strategy published in 2016 committed to creating 30,000 apprenticeships by 2020.

Aviation: Training

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure all those working on the airside of UK airports are qualified and trained to work on or near aircraft.

Jesse Norman: There are a large number of different roles undertaken airside at UK airports which require a wide variety of different qualifications and training. It is for employers to ensure that workers have the appropriate qualifications and training for their role. In relation to aircraft operators, European regulations require operators to ensure that all personnel assigned to, or directly involved in, ground and flight operations are properly instructed, have demonstrated their abilities in their particular duties and are aware of their responsibilities and the relationship of such duties to the operation as a whole. The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) oversees operators’ compliance with this requirement.

Aviation: Training

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when were training and qualifications for all staff working on the airside of the airports last evaluated.

Jesse Norman: There are a large number of different roles undertaken airside at UK airports which require a wide variety of different qualifications and training. It is for employers to ensure that workers have the appropriate qualifications and training for their role and to consider whether any changes are needed.

Aviation: Training

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what specialized training is provided for people who work in vulnerable areas of the operative parts of UK airports.

Jesse Norman: There are a large number of different functions undertaken airside at UK airports which require a wide variety of different qualifications and training. It is for employers to ensure that workers have the appropriate qualifications and training relevant to the function they undertake and to the location in which they operate. All persons must as a minimum be trained in general security awareness before being issued with an airside pass.

Aviation: Training

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what skills and qualifications are required for an operative who is tasked with refuelling aircraft at a UK airport.

Jesse Norman: Internationally agreed procedures for handling aviation fuel at airports and upstream aviation fuel facilities are contained in The Joint Inspection Group (JIG) Standards for Aviation Fuel Quality Control and Operating Procedures.

Aviation: Training

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what training is required for operators who drive vehicles airside at airports.

Jesse Norman: All operators who drive vehicles airside at airports must be competent to drive and to operate the vehicle they are driving, while the vehicle must have a permit to confirm its suitability. All operators who drive vehicles airside must have a valid Airside Driving Permit (ADP), which is gained by undertaking driver awareness training, the successful completion of an exam and practical/familiarisation training at their location. Additionally, all drivers must have the appropriate licence to operate the vehicle they are driving – either a EU driving licence or in the case of a specialist vehicle, a license or permit issued on completion of an approved training course.

Department for Transport: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many contracts his Department holds with government strategic suppliers.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Contracts that my Department holds with Government strategic suppliers are as follows:  Count of ContractDfT(c)24DVLA22DVSA17MCA23VCA10DfT total 96

Electric Vehicles

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of provision of charging points and other infrastructure associated with electric vehicles.

Jesse Norman: At present the vast majority of Electric Vehicle (EV) drivers choose to charge their cars at home, overnight, but adequate availability of public charging is also very important. Thanks to Government policy, a growing private sector and the work of Local Authorities, the UK now has over 11,500 publicly accessible charge points. These include over 900 rapid charge points, giving the UK one of the largest rapid networks in Europe.On 17 January, the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) published its report "Plugging the gap: An assessment of future demand for Britain’s electric vehicle public charging network", which sets out the findings of a new analysis of the optimal Electric Vehicle (EV) public charging infrastructure needed to meet future growth of EVs in Great Britain to 2030. The Government is considering this analysis and expects to publish an updated strategy by end of March this year on the transition to zero emission vehicles.

High Speed 2 Railway Line: Scotland

Luke Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that Scotland benefits fully from the High Speed Two project.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Scotland stands to benefit substantially from HS2. When Phase One opens in 2026, services will run directly between London and Glasgow, bringing the journey time below 4 hours. When the full HS2 network opens in 2033, journeys between London and Glasgow and Edinburgh will be 3 hr 40 min. The Department for Transport estimates HS2 will deliver around £5bn of benefits to the Scottish economy.

Midland Main Railway Line: Electrification

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December to Question 117877, what assessment he has made of the effect on air quality of using bi-mode trains on the Midland Mainline on the basis that the line beyond Kettering will not be electrified.

Joseph Johnson: We are committed to improving journeys for passengers on the Midland Main Line, which is why we are delivering biggest upgrade of the route since it was completed in 1870. The upgrade will enable increased passenger capacity and reduced journey times, and will see modern trains introduced across the route, including a fleet of brand new bi-mode intercity trains from 2022. The Government has made this decision to deliver benefits for intercity passengers sooner than would otherwise be possible. In addition to greenhouse gas emissions, the appraisal of the effect of using bi-modes considered the monetary valuation of changes in NOx emissions. The results of this appraisal show that compared to the do-minimum scenario, which was continued diesel operation with the existing fleet for 10 years and then the introduction of bi-modes in 2030/31, introducing bi-modes earlier to replace diesels delivers £6m of NOx emission savings over the 60-year appraisal period, whilst fully electric trains would have delivered £20m of monetised NOx savings over the same period.

Engineering: Young People

Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if the Government will follow the 2018 Year of Engineering campaign with further campaigns to engage young people with engineering.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Inspiring the next generation of engineers is crucially important to the UK economy. The Department for Transport is working across government, the Professional Engineering Institutions and industry partners to create not only engaging and inspiring activity for the Year of Engineering 2018 itself, but also to identify and manage its legacy beyond 2018. The aspiration is for the campaign brand ‘Engineering: Take a Closer Look’ and website, with its events calendar and wealth of case studies and teaching resources, to live beyond 2018.

Cross Country Rail Franchise

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the performance of the Cross Country Franchise; and what plans he has to improve services on the lines affected by that franchise.

Joseph Johnson: My officials meet on a regular basis with Cross Country to monitor delivery of the requirements of its Franchise Agreement with the Department. We are currently in the early stages of scoping for the new Cross Country franchise due to start in the latter part of 2019. We will be consulting on this later this year.

Large Goods Vehicle Drivers: Training

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what changes his Department has made to UK HGV testing guidance as a result of EU Directives 2014/45/EU and 2014/47/EU.

Jesse Norman: The May 2018 draft heavy goods vehicle inspection manual incorporates the changes required by Directive 2014/45/EU as do the draft public service vehicle manual, and the draft MOT inspection manual for classes 3, 4, 5 & 7. Directive 2014/47/EU, which is relevant to roadside inspection and the categorisation of defects, is currently being amended to incorporate the changes to this directive.

Roads: Litter

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the proportion of litter collected by Highways England which was recycled in each year since 2010..

Jesse Norman: Highways England is responsible for complying with the mandatory legal requirements under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which includes removing litter on England’s motorways and some trunk roads. Highways England recycles where possible. There is not, however, a requirement to record the amount recycled. Large debris collected from the network, such as timber, metal, rubber and tyres will be sent for recycling, but the weight or volume is not currently recorded by or for Highways England.

Carillion

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much money his Department owed to Carillion plc in outstanding payments before that company's liquidation.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: As far as can be determined, there is no outstanding money owed by the Department to Carillion plc since its liquidation.

Driving Tests: Pontypridd

Owen Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, on which date a Minister of his Department last visited Pontypridd DVSA test centre.

Jesse Norman: There is no record held by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency of a Minister visiting Pontypridd driving test centre.

Motorways: Repairs and Maintenance

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many miles of (a) 40mph and (b) 50mph zones have been in place on motorways in each of the last ten years.

Jesse Norman: Highways England do not hold data in the requested format. On Smart Motorways, speed limits below the national limit are set dynamically to smooth traffic flows or manage incidents so the length of 40mph or 50mph zones changes all the time. When Highways England are undertaking improvements or maintenance works, it is sometimes necessary to set a temporary speed limit below the national limit. Details on live traffic information can be tracked on Highways England’s Traffic England Website http://www.trafficengland.com/ and upcoming roadworks are available on https://roadworks.org/ .

Tyne and Wear Metro: Standards

Mr Stephen Hepburn: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 24 November 2017 to Question 113229, what information his Department holds on the recent performance and punctuality of services on the Tyne and Wear Metro.

Jesse Norman: Regular updates are provided to the North East Combined Authority, who are responsible for the operation of the Tyne and Wear Metro. The Department is provided with a range of metrics on a regular basis, which include punctuality and fleet availability.

Govia Thameslink Railway: Tickets

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2018 to Question 121931, by what date the wider enhancements to the Key smartcard are planned to be delivered; and what those enhancements are.

Joseph Johnson: Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) will shortly be significantly expanding the coverage of KeyGo, its pay-as-you-go product which uses the Key smartcard, and will make further improvements to this product throughout the year. As a result of the government’s £80m investment in smart ticketing, GTR will also be adopting common standards for smart ticketing so as to allow passengers to make journeys across the network using smart cards.

Govia Thameslink Railway: Tickets

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2018 to Question 121931, if he will include Hove passengers in the next trial for part-time season tickets on the Key smartcard.

Joseph Johnson: No decision has been taken on the details of the next trial. Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) will be considering options for the scope and coverage of the next trial and will submit its proposal to the Department in due course.

Carillion

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department made an assessment of the viability of Carillion to deliver on its contractual responsibilities and remain solvent prior to awarding the company a High Speed Two contract in July 2017; and if he will make a statement.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Department did not award a High Speed Two contract to Carillion in July 2017. A joint venture called CEK JV (comprising Carillion, Eiffage and Kier) was awarded the contract in July 2017. HS2 Ltd undertook due diligence on the CEK Joint Venture prior to the MWCC Award in July. The CEK Joint Venture met the required financial standing criteria. HS2 has carried out additional due diligence and sought re-assurance of both Joint Venture partners, Kier and Eiffage, that they remain committed and capable to deliver the contract. Each company's Boards have both given that assurance and confirmed that they underwrite the performance of each other and have the capacity to deliver the HS2 contract.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Palestinians: Children

Mr Gavin Shuker: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Israeli counterparts on the detention of Palestinian children.

Alistair Burt: The issue of children in Israeli military detention remains a human rights priority for the UK. Our Embassy officials in Tel Aviv most recently raised the issue with the Israeli authorities on 16 January, and senior British Government officials raised this issue with the Israeli Ambassador to the UK on 8 January. I raised our concerns on this issue with the Israeli Government during my visit to Israel in August 2017

Egypt: Religious Freedom

Siobhain McDonagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Egyptian Government on the arrest of 25 Ahmadi Muslims in that country on the grounds of their religion; and if he will make a statement.

Alistair Burt: ​I refer the Honourable Member for Mitcham and Morden to my answer to her earlier PQ on this matter (121319) on 15 January. We will continue to raise our concerns around the discrimination of religious minorities in Egypt. This includes concerns over the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly in Egypt. These rights are essential to improving the protection of Freedom of Religious Belief in Egypt.

Burma: Rohingya

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps are being taken to ensure that the repatriation of Rohingya people from Bangladesh is overseen by an independent UN monitor to help ensure the safety and security of those refugees.

Mark Field: The UK proposed and secured a UN Security Council Presidential Statement on 6 November that urged the Governments of Burma and Bangladesh to ensure the voluntary, safe and dignified return to Burma of Rohingya refugees, and the full participation of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in the repatriation process.We have repeatedly used our bilateral representations to the Governments of Burma and Bangladesh to call on them to ensure the repatriation process meets these conditions. The British Ambassador to Burma most recently pressed for UNHCR involvement in the repatriation process in his meeting with the Minister for the Office of the State Counsellor on 11 January. The British High Commission in Dhaka regularly raises our concerns about premature returns with the government of Bangladesh.We share UNHCR's concerns regarding the risk of premature or precipitous returns, and its assessment that conditions in Rakhine are not presently in place to enable safe and sustainable returns.

Burma: Rohingya

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions has he had with his counterparts in other EU countries on ensuring a joined-up response to the Rohingya crisis.

Mark Field: The UK has been actively maintaining dialogue on Burma within the EU, including in discussions in the Asia-Oceania Working Party, the Political and Security Committee, and the Foreign Affairs Council. EU coordination can be seen through the retention of the EU arms embargo and the suspension of all military visits to the UK. The UK was instrumental in securing EU wide support for these measures.

Burma: Rohingya

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations the Government has made to the UN on the need for UN security for the protection of the repatriated Rohingya people.

Mark Field: The UNHCR holds the expertise on refugee returns which is why the government has repeatedly called for their involvement in both Bangladesh and Burma. We have discussed this directly with the UNHCR, most recently on 12 January in a meeting between FCO-DFID Minister Alastair Burt and the High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi. We have also raised it in the UN Security Council, through the Presidential Statement on 6 November and in our intervention during the 12 December Council session. The UK has always been clear that refugee returns must be safe, voluntary and dignified. In our view guaranteed safety for the Rohingya once they are in northern Rakhine requires independent international oversight of the returns process.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many contracts his Department holds with government strategic suppliers.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The Foreign and Commonwealth Office does not centrally hold the number of contracts with government strategic suppliers worldwide. To provide this information would incur disproportionate cost.

Eritrea: Religious Freedom

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Government of Eritrea on its treatment of religious minorities.

Harriett Baldwin: Our Ambassador and EU counterparts have called for the release of all prisoners detained for religious beliefs or, as a minimum, that they are brought before a court for public hearing and fair trial, allowing them to defend themselves against any charge. We will continue to raise our concerns on this and other human rights issues with the Government of Eritrea.

Diplomatic Service

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant 120823, what the 48 countries are where the UK has no consular representation; and in which of those countries the UK has bi-lateral arrangements for consular representation with non-EU countries.

Harriett Baldwin: Information about the UK's diplomatic representation around the world can be found at https://www.gov.uk/world/embassies. The FCO's consular contact centres ensure that British people can access consular services 24/7 from anywhere in the world. Our 24/7 Global Response Centre and extensive network of Honorary Consuls mean that we can provide consular assistance to British people in countries where we do not have an embassy, high commission or consulate. In addition, the UK has a number of bilateral arrangements with non-EU countries relating to consular assistance where the UK does not have consular representation.

Honduras: Violence

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will respond to Early Day Motion 825 on post-election violence in Honduras.

Sir Alan Duncan: The Government is concerned about the fragile, political and security situation in Honduras. We continue to urge all sides to pursue a resolution through dialogue and to avoid violence. The Government condemns attacks and threats against journalists, peaceful protesters and human rights defenders.Following confirmation on 5 January by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of the re-election of Juan Orlando Hernandez, the British Ambassador to Honduras issued a statement calling on the authorities to protect human rights and work to restore confidence in national institutions. We support the conclusions of the EU Election Observer Mission, and encorage the Government of Honduras to implement recommended reforms to the electoral system in advance of future elections.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Mining

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Government of Democratic Republic of Congo on working conditions for children involved in the mining of cobalt.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK is concerned about working conditions for children involved in the mining of cobalt in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).The DRC is a Foreign and Commonwealth Office Human Rights Priority Country. We will continue to encourage the DRC Government to take concrete steps to improve respect for human rights. Through our existing and future programming in DRC, we hope to eradicate child labour in the mines in the long term.DFID is working to tackle the root causes of child labour in the mining sector in the DRC. DFID collaborates closely with other Government Departments and through a European Partnership for Responsible Minerals. We provide funding to the Carter Center in the DRC to improve transparency and governance of the sector. DFID DRC is also working with other international partners to consider how we might tackle the issues in the cobalt supply chain in future programme design.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Children

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Democratic Republic of Congo on upholding Article 32.1 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK actively encourages countries to uphold Article 32.1 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The UK was among the main sponsors of the annual resolution at the Human Rights Council on the Rights of the Child in March 2017 and we are already working on the Rights of the Child Resolution ahead of the Human Rights Council session in March 2018. The UK actively encourages International Labour Organisation (ILO) member states, including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), to fulfil their ILO obligations and work towards ratifying and meeting the provisions of the core ILO conventions. This includes ILO conventions relating to child labour.

Sudan: Migration

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2018 to Question 122065, on Sudan: Migration, if his Department will publish the research on helping shape policy and programming in Sudan.

Harriett Baldwin: The UK Government has no plans to publish the research commissioned on migration in Sudan. We will continue to use this research to inform our discussions on migration with the Government of Sudan and with key civil society groups.

Sierra Leone: Female Genital Mutilation

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking in response to reports that FGM has been used by political parties in Sierra Leone as part of the electoral process.

Harriett Baldwin: We are not aware of any formal reports of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) being used as part of the electoral process; but with our partners we are closely monitoring all risks around the election.The Department for International Development (DfID) is committed to working with the Government of Sierra Leone to promote the rights of women and girls and will seek to work with the new Government to specifically tackle FGM in the country.

Burma: Protest

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, whether his Department has made representations on the killing of nine ethnic Rakhine protesters in Rakhine State’s Mrauk U Township to the Burmese Government; and if he will support an investigation into that incident.

Mark Field: The UK is deeply concerned by the killing of protestors in Mrauk U on 16 January. The British Embassy in Rangoon released a statement on 17 January offering condolences to the families of those killed and calling on the authorities to investigate the incident.

Qatar: Foreign Relations

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the aims and objectives are of Her Majesty's Government's policy on Qatar.

Alistair Burt: The Government's objectives for Qatar are to promote mutual prosperity, provide support for British nationals in Qatar, and promote regional stability through partnership with Qatar.

Syria: Armed Conflict

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to the Government of Turkey on its recent intervention in Syria.

Sir Alan Duncan: ​The Foreign Secretary has spoken to Turkish Foreign Minister Çavuşoğlu about the Turkish operation in Afrin. We recognise Turkey's legitimate interest in the security of its borders. We have urged them to avoid any escalation in violence and to seek to protect civilians. It remains in our shared interest to focus on achieving a political settlement that ends the war and suffering, and provides stability for all Syrians and the wider region.

Syria: Foreign Relations

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what the aims and objectives are of Her Majesty's Government's policy on Syria.

Alistair Burt: The UK’s goals in Syria are defeating Daesh, and achieving a political settlement that ends the war and suffering, provides stability for all Syrians and the wider region, and enables refugees to safely return. To do this, there needs to be a transition to a new, inclusive, non-sectarian government that can protect the rights of all Syrians and unite the country. We support the UN-led Geneva process between the Syrian parties as this is the forum for reaching a lasting solution to the conflict. We also aim to alleviate suffering through our humanitarian response to the crisis, to which we have committed £2.46 billion.

Department for International Development

Democratic Republic of Congo: Mining

Anna Turley: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to support the reduction in the use of children involved in cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID is working to tackle the root causes that enable child labour to flourish in the mining sector in the Democratic Republic of Congo. To this end, DFID collaborates closely with other Government Departments and through a European Partnership for Responsible Minerals. We provide funding to the Carter Center in the DRC to improve transparency and governance of the sector. DFID DRC is also working with other international partners to consider how we might tackle the issues in the cobalt supply chain in future programme design.

Sierra Leone: Female Genital Mutilation

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what reports she has received on the use of FGM by political parties in Sierra Leone as part of the electoral process; and what the effect is of such use on her Department's efforts to tackle FGM.

Harriett Baldwin: We are not aware of any formal reports of FGM being used as part of the electoral process; but with our partners we are closely monitoring all risks around the election.DFID is committed to working with the Government of Sierra Leone to promote the rights of women and girls and will seek to work with the new Government to specifically tackle FGM in the country. Supporting Sierra Leones’ elections bodies to deliver free, fair and inclusive elections is a top priority for the UK. We are working with the National Elections Commission (NEC) and Civil Society Organizations to deliver civic and voter information better targeted to specific groups like women and persons with a disability. Efforts are underway by the UN in country to establish a women’s situation room to help monitor and tackle instances of violence against women and other vulnerable groups. The NEC is also working to make voting centres more physically accessible and/or able to provide special voting arrangements e.g. tactile ballots for the visually impaired, and table-top voting screens for mothers with small children.

UNRWA

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, how much was disbursed from the public purse in voluntary contributions excluding assessed or non-discretionary contributions to the UN Relief and Works Agency in each financial year since 2010.

Alistair Burt: The amount of UK Official Development Assistance (ODA) funds to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in each calendar year since 2010 is given in the table below. This data is published each year in the Statistics for International Development (SID) publication. Figures for 2017 will be released next year. The UK remains firmly committed to supporting UNRWA and Palestinian refugees across the Middle East and we have so far provided around £50 million in 2017/18. (£ millions)2010201120122013201420152016Bilateral ODA through Multilateral2.14.55.818.429.130.021.0Core Multilateral ODA27.030.547.522.936.634.033.4Total UK ODA to UNRWA29.1 35.0 53.3 41.4 65.7 64.0 54.4 Source: Statistics for International Development 2010 - 2017 ODA figures are produced only on a calendar year basis in line with the Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation, Development Assistance Committee definitions. Bilateral ODA through multilateral is funding to multilateral organisations for specific programmes or for specific countries. Core multilateral ODA describes un-earmarked funds from national governments which are pooled with other donors’ funding and disbursed as part of the core budget of the multilateral organisation.

Department for Education

Schools: Academic Year

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools have varied the dates of their school terms in the last three years.

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will write to schools to remind them of their power to vary the dates of school terms.

Nadhim Zahawi: Head teachers, school governors and local authorities are best placed to set school term and holiday dates, in the best interests of the pupils and parents in their local area. As such, term dates are determined locally by schools and local authorities. The Department for Education does not collect data on schools’ term-dates.For maintained schools, community schools, community special schools, voluntary controlled schools, pupil referral units and maintained nursery schools, the governing body or local authority are responsible for setting term dates. This must be done in line with the requirements of the length of the school year, as set out in the Education (School Day and School Year) (England) Regulations 1999.Academies, free schools, and other schools where the governing body is the employer of staff, such as foundation or voluntary-aided (church) schools, are free to set their own term and holiday dates. Some of these schools have already made innovative changes in the interests of pupils and parents.Schools and local authorities can find guidance on the responsibilities for setting school term dates in the published School Attendance Guidance, which can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/school-attendance.

Universities: Sexual Offences

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of reports by university students of sexual assaults taking place on campus; and how many such reports there have been in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017 to date.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The department does not hold information regarding the number of reports by university students of sexual assaults taking place on campus. Government takes any form of violence and sexual harassment, including in higher education, extremely seriously. That is why we asked Universities UK (UUK) to set up a sexual violence and harassment taskforce. The Taskforce published their report ‘Changing the Culture’ in October 2016: http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Documents/2016/changing-the-culture.pdf. Government expects institutions to take a proactive response to sexual harassment and ensuring that students feel confident and able to report any issues. The Taskforce also undertook a review of the ‘Zellick Guidelines’ on how higher education institutions should handle student misconduct which may constitute a criminal offence and published new guidelines alongside the report: http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/policy-and-analysis/reports/Documents/2016/guidance-for-higher-education-institutions.pdf. The Taskforce’s report raises that underreporting of harassment incidents can often be an issue and clearly sets out the need for institutions to break down barriers to reporting, and ensure that clear, accessible and robust reporting mechanisms are in place. As the report makes clear, low numbers of disclosures do not necessarily mean that incidents do not occur, and this is a factor to consider when making judgments on any changes in levels of disclosure. To support this work, the department has asked the Higher Education Funding Council to prioritise working with UUK in 2017-2018 on these important issues, including surveying the sector’s progress to make sure universities are doing all they can to protect the safety and security of their students. This will be reported on in due course. Meanwhile, they have provided over £4 million funding for projects to tackle harassment and hate crime. This includes £2.45 million for projects addressing concerns about sexual violence and harassment.

Apprentices: Taxation

Mr Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of the apprenticeship levy on schools in (a) Devon and Plymouth and (b) England; and if he will make a statement.

Anne Milton: As with other areas of the public sector, the department will be monitoring the uptake of apprenticeships by the school workforce. Public sector bodies included in the apprenticeship target are required to annually publish and report to the department their progress towards the target. The first reports (covering the period 1 April 2017 – 31 March 2018) are due on 30 September 2018. As we have outlined to the Public Accounts Committee, the department will also include the financial impact of the apprenticeship levy as part of our publication regarding the cost pressures on schools.

School Meals

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the number of school catering programmes which received nutritional and dietary training prior to setting menus in 2017.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department does not hold this information. Our department supports the provision of nutritious food in schools to enable pupils to be well nourished, develop healthy eating habits and to concentrate and learn in school. Our school food standards regulate the food and drink provided during the school day, and foods high in fat, salt and sugar, as well as low quality reformed or reconstituted foods, are restricted. Resources such as the school food plan website can be used by schools and school caterers to ensure their menus comply with the standards.

Mathematics: Schools

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many specialist maths schools his Department has established since 2011; and how many he plans to establish in each of the next five years.

Nick Gibb: Currently, there are two maths schools, Exeter Mathematics School and King’s College London Mathematics School, both of which opened in 2014.The Government has not set a specific target for the number of maths schools it will establish in each of the next five years. We want to work with leading universities to establish high quality schools, ensuring our most mathematically able students succeed in mathematics related disciplines at top universities.

Apprentices: Taxation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many organisations have (a) paid the Apprenticeship Levy and (b) utilised funds from the Apprenticeship Levy to date.

Anne Milton: Information on the number of organisations that have paid the apprenticeship levy is not available in the format requested. Data on the apprenticeship levy is reported to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs via the Pay As You Earn scheme rather than by organisation. The department plans to publish statistics on registrations and commitments for the levy in due course.

Apprentices: Taxation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to issue guidelines to Apprenticeship Levy payers on forthcoming measures to enable them to transfer of up to 10 per cent of their funds to another employer of an apprenticeship training agency; and if he will make a statement.

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of enabling funds raised from the Apprenticeship Levy to be used to support the provision of skills and training courses that are not provided by apprenticeships.

Anne Milton: The department will be issuing guidance to levy-paying employers regarding measures that will allow them to transfer up to 10% of the annual value of funds entering their apprenticeship service account to another employer or an apprenticeship training agency. This guidance will be issued prior to the introduction of these measures in April 2018. The levy allows employers to spend their funds on the apprenticeship training that they judge best meets their needs. Funds in an employer’s levy account can only be used towards the cost of approved apprenticeship training and assessment. The purpose of the levy and the associated funds is to drive the uptake of quality apprenticeship training. The government will continue to work with employers and providers on how the apprenticeship levy is best spent to meet employers’ needs and support productivity across the country.

Schools: Cost Effectiveness

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding has been provided to the Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL) for the school efficiency adviser programme for the 2017-18 financial year; by what process the ISBL was chosen as the provider of that programme; and whether there was an open tendering process.

Nick Gibb: We are currently conducting a pilot on the use of school efficiency advisers (SEAs). We have contracted the Institute of School Business Leadership (ISBL) for administrative and accreditation support as an interim measure during the pilot phase, in order that we can deliver this scheme as quickly as possible for the benefit of schools and trusts with the greatest need. ISBL offers a skilled, established, group of professionals who are currently practising in the sector.To date, we have spent approximately £33,000 on the contract with ISBL to support the pilot. Once the pilot concludes, and assuming a decision is made to proceed to roll out the approach, we intend to conduct an open procurement process which would be launched later this year.

Schools: Cost Effectiveness

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the required level of (a) qualifications and (b) experience is for school efficiency advisers; how such advisers are recruited; and what the average rate of pay has been of such advisers in the last 12 months.

Nick Gibb: Institute of School Business Leaders Fellows are an established, experienced resource with current knowledge of the sector and of school business leadership. In order to achieve fellowship status, they must have demonstrated a high level of professional expertise.The Department has introduced a robust training and accreditation process, which is designed to provide assurance that school efficiency advisers (SEA) are proficient and can take a consistent approach to the analysis of key efficiency metrics.The day rate of a SEA will be £500, including travel. These experts will start working with schools in early 2018 as part of our initial pilot.

Schools: Cost Effectiveness

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, which schools and trusts will receive support from schools efficiency advisers during the pilot phase; and how such schools and trusts were selected.

Nick Gibb: In this pilot phase, the Department is prioritising support to trusts and schools which have the greatest need. As part of the pilot, we are taking a more proactive approach with local authorities to support their work with maintained schools and, where required, the Education and Skills Funding Agency will consider the use of School Efficiency Advisers (SEAs). Over time, and subject to the outcome of the pilot, we will expand the pool of SEAs and therefore be able to support a wider range of trusts/schools.The Department has used schools’ and trusts’ financial data to build a picture of the sector as a whole. Using this data, and discussions with trusts, we have identified those trusts who may benefit from working with a SEA.

Schools: Cost Effectiveness

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much funding will be available for the schools efficiency adviser programme; and how much has been spent or allocated to date.

Nick Gibb: The pilot will test how school efficiency advisers (SEAs) deliver value for money for the taxpayer and drive significant savings in schools at a cost efficient rate. We will monitor effectiveness and cost as part of the pilot, which will be used to determine the ultimate size of the programme.To date, we have spent approximately £33,000 on the contract with Institue of School Business Leaders to support the pilot.

Schools: Cost Effectiveness

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what efficiency savings targets have been set by his Department for the schools efficiency adviser programme.

Nick Gibb: The School Efficiency Adviser (SEA) project is one part of a wider programme, which is committed to helping schools improve their efficiency, including saving £1 billion on non-staff spend on schools by 2019-2020. The Department already provides support, guidance and tools in order to help schools achieve the best value from their resources, improve pupil outcomes and promote social mobility.The pilot will test how SEAs deliver value for money for the taxpayer and drive significant savings in schools at a cost efficient rate. We will monitor effectiveness and cost as part of the pilot.

Schools: Cost Effectiveness

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what criteria his Department will use to decide whether the school efficiency adviser pilots were successful enough to roll out the project; and who will be responsible for making that decision.

Nick Gibb: School efficiency advisers (SEAs) are one part of the Department’s school efficiency and financial health policy. The Department has committed to provide efficiency experts where appropriate to support schools to improve their efficiency and financial health. We are piloting the provision of this expertise through SEAs, working with the Institute for School Business Leadership. The overall objective of the support provided by the SEA is that the school can identify how it can improve its efficiency and make best use of its resources. In assessing the programme we will consider the value for money to the taxpayer and the effectiveness of the SEA approach in terms of delivering efficiency savings for the sector.

Office for Students

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that students' views are represented on the board of the Office for Students.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The Office for Students’ (OfS) central mission is to operate in the interests of student and its statutory duties reflect this. We will expect all members of the Board to engage with students to ensure they understand the issues that they face and have these as considerations when making decisions. However, to further strengthen the voice of students on the Board, the Higher Education and Research Act made provision for there to be at least one member of the Board with experience of representing or promoting student interests. There is currently an interim student representative on the Board, who is also a full member of the Student Panel. The OfS’s Student Panel has been set up to advise the board and senior team of the OfS. It has thirteen members and this membership includes current undergraduate and postgraduate students, part-time and international students, prospective students and recent graduates. They will bring a diverse range of views and perspectives to bear on the work of the OfS.

Office for Students

Thelma Walker: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what representation of disabled students there will be on the Office for Students' Student Panel.

Mr Sam Gyimah: The student panel has been appointed by the Office for Students (OfS) and will play an important role in advising the OfS. Membership of the panel includes representatives of students from a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. The announcement of the panel was made on 7 January and can be found at:https://medium.com/@n.dandridge/new-student-panel-appointed-to-advise-office-for-students-press-release-4b77ebb2769c.

Free School Meals: Eastbourne

Stephen Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many families in Eastbourne would be entitled to free school meals under the pre-universal credit free school meals system.

Nadhim Zahawi: We don’t differentiate between pupils eligible for free school meals under the pre-universal credit free school meals system and those only eligible due to the universal credit free school meals system. The number of pupils eligible for and claiming free school meals is published in the file “Underlying data: SFR28/2017” in the annual ‘Schools, pupils and their characteristics’ statistical release. For 2017 the information can be found at:www.gov.uk/government/statistics/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2017.Information for earlier years can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-school-and-pupil-numbers.

World War II: Genocide

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps his Department has taken to support UCL's Holocaust Education Programme's Beacon Schools Project.

Nick Gibb: The Government has provided £3.75 million of funding to University College London Institute of Education’s Centre for Holocaust Education (CfHE) since 2008, and we have recently confirmed that we will continue to fund the programme until 2020. The aim of the programme, which is jointly funded by the Pears Foundation, is to help ensure that teachers are equipped with the training and resources they need to deliver effective Holocaust education. Some of this funding is used to support the CfHE’s Beacon Schools project.

Wakefield City Academies Trust

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2018 to Question 121709, on Wakefield City Academies Trust, what the cost is of the transfer of the schools; whether that cost falls to the public purse; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: At this stage in the transfer process, it is not possible to specify the total cost of transferring the academies.We are working with Wakefield City Academies Trust to transfer all 21 academies in a way that ensures best value for money to the public purse. Value for money is a key consideration in developing a solution for the academies in the trust and we are working closely with all parties to ensure that any costs are minimised.

Knives: Crime

Ms Marie Rimmer: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking in schools better to educate young people in the dangers of knife crime.

Nick Gibb: The Department knows how important it is that young people understand the dangers of knife crime. Schools can choose to include lessons on weapons awareness and gangs as part of their Personal, Social, Health and Economic (PSHE) or Citizenship curriculum, with high quality materials available to schools to support teaching in these areas.Through the Children and Social Work Act 2017, the government is also making the subjects of Relationships Education compulsory in primary schools, and Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) compulsory in secondary schools. These subjects will help young people understand safe, respectful and positive relationships and appropriate ways of resolving conflict, including conflicts that are voiced and fuelled through the negative use of social media platforms.The Government is currently running a Call for Evidence on what pupils should be taught in Relationships Education, RSE and PSHE, and will be engaging with the Police and Home Office through that process.

Children: Day Care

Scott Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average weekly cost was of a childcare place in Cornwall in each year since 2010.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department collects data on the weekly regional cost of childcare through our regular parent surveys. These can be found at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-childcare-and-early-years.

Academies: Inspections

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools that have been converted to academies have not been inspected by Ofsted within three years of opening.

Nick Gibb: This is a matter for Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman. I have asked her to write to you and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Academies: Bethnal Green and Bow

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools in Bethnal Green and Bow constituency have become an academy in each year since 2010.

Nadhim Zahawi: Two schools in Bethnal Green and Bow constituency have become academies since 2010. The Green Spring Academy Shoreditch opened in 2012 and the Old Ford Primary School opened in 2013.

Children: Day Care

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment the Government has made of the regional disparities in funded childcare places in England.

Nadhim Zahawi: On 19 December 2017, we published ’30 hours free childcare: autumn term 2017’ which showed for the first time the number of children in a 30 hours place. This showed that, based on local authority returns to a voluntary survey, an estimated 202,800 children were in a 30 hours place. At a national level, this was 90% of the total number of codes generated. At a regional level this ranged from 85% in the South East to 97% in the North East. This is the first term of delivering a new national programme and it is encouraging that no region has under 85% of children with a 30 hours code in a 30 hours place. We cannot account for a parents’ preference and behaviour which could, of course, vary across the country depending on individual circumstances. Our new Early Years National Funding Formula includes an ‘Area Cost Adjustment’ to reflect the fact that the costs of delivering childcare vary between different local authority areas. We will monitor all 30 hours data over the first year of delivery to understand how the new policy is being delivered and identify any operational challenges.

Children: Day Care

Rushanara Ali: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many childcare providers in (a) Bethnal Green and Bow, (b) London and (c) England have fallen off the register in each year since 2010.

Nadhim Zahawi: Ofsted is the non-ministerial government department responsible for the regulation of early education and childcare providers. They publish a regular series of statistics relating to early years providers, which can be viewed from this link: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted/about/statistics. This is a matter for Ofsted. I have asked, Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector, Amanda Spielman, to write to the hon. Member. A copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Apprentices: Pay

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when apprentices transferred from Carillion Training Services to the Construction Industry Training Board were last paid wages; and when such apprentices are next planned to be paid wages.

Anne Milton: The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) can confirm that all affected apprentices will continue to be paid by the receiver until the end of January 2018. Following the announcement on the 15 January 2018, regarding the liquidation of Carillion, the ESFA has enacted robust contingency plans and identified the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) as the best-placed alternative provider. The CITB is currently utilising their existing employer contacts in the sector and the grant incentives they have available, to secure existing employers or find alternative employers for the apprentices to complete their frameworks or standards. Once alternative employment has been secured, it will be the responsibility of these individual employers to determine the frequency of payments to their apprentices.

Children: Day Care

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress has been made on the roll-out of 30 hours of free childcare in Coventry.

Nadhim Zahawi: On 19 December 2017, we published ’30 hours free childcare: autumn term 2017’. This showed that, in the first term of delivery, an estimated 1,143 children were in a 30 hours place in Coventry – this was 97% of those issued with a 30 hours eligibility code. Furthermore, as of 8 January, 1,786 30 hours eligibility codes had been issued in Coventry for the spring term and 1,445 of these codes had been validated via the department's eligibility checking system.This data was published in the management information release: ‘30 hours free childcare eligibility codes issued and validated: January 2018’: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/30-hours-free-childcare-eligibility-codes-issued-and-validated. We will continue to publish regular management information on the rollout of 30 hours free childcare at a national and local level.

Department for Education: Carillion

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much money his Department owed to Carillion plc in outstanding payments before that company's liquidation.

Nadhim Zahawi: Our initial assessment is that the department does not have any significant outstanding payments. We are working with the Official Receiver to reconcile the financial position. The department does expect this to take some time, since the liquidation process is complex, given the nature and size of Carillion’s interests.

Music: Education

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support music education.

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the benefits of music education in schools.

Nick Gibb: The Department is providing £300 million of ring-fenced funding from 2016-20 to Music Education Hubs (MEHs). The national network of 120 MEHs ensures that all children, whatever their background, have access to a high quality music education, including learning to play musical instruments and having the opportunity to play and sing in ensembles.The Department also supports music education through funding: National Youth Music Organisations such as the National Youth Orchestra; In Harmony, which aims to inspire and transform the lives of children in disadvantaged areas in England through community-based orchestral music-making; and Music for Youth in providing opportunities for young people and families to perform in and attend regional and national festivals and concerts, who might not otherwise have had access.

Further Education: Finance

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Government's proposed review of tertiary education funding is planned to include funding for 16 to 19-year olds.

Mr Sam Gyimah: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 24 January 2018 to Question 123890 (123890 - http://www.parliament.uk/business/publications/written-questions-answers-statements/written-questions-answers/?page=1&max=20&questiontype=AllQuestions&house=commons%2clords&uin=123890).

Carillion

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 January 2018 to Question 123188, how many local authority and academy trust schools are covered by catering, facilities management or other service contracts with Carillion.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department does not ordinarily collect information on procurement activity because local authorities and academy trusts are responsible for their own contracts. Information available to the department indicates that the number of local authority and academy trust schools covered by service contracts with Carillion is relatively low, and significantly lower than figures initially published on Carillion’s website. Schools affected already have robust contingency plans in operation and, for many, this may include transferring services in house, or re-procuring with alternative providers. We are working closely with the Official Receiver, Special Manager and local authorities to confirm the position.

Faith Schools: Admissions

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2018 to Question 123136, whether he plans to respond to the full consultation on the Green Paper entitled Schools that work for everyone or only to the proposals on the establishment of new faith free schools set out in the consultation document.

Anne Milton: The department plans to respond to the proposals set out in the consultation document, ‘Schools that work for everyone’, including those regarding the faith admissions cap, in due course.

Faith Schools: Admissions

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2018 to Question 123136, what the evidential basis is for his statement that faiths opening new faith free schools subject to the 50 per cent cap would contravene religious rules.

Anne Milton: The Catholic Church regard the 50% limit on faith admissions as preventing Catholic parents from meeting their obligation to secure a Catholic education for their children and hindering the ability of Catholic Bishops to secure sufficient Catholic provision to meet the needs of Catholic parents, both of which are obligations under Canon law. Given the popularity of Catholic schools among a broad range of parents, they believe the effect of the 50% cap would be to require them to turn away Catholic pupils. The ‘Schools that work for everyone’ consultation proposed removing the 50% limit as part of broader plans to enable a wider group of high quality providers to establish new schools. The government will respond to the above consultation in due course.

Carillion

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on school finances of the fees being charged by PwC in its capacity as the liquidator of Carillion; and if he will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: The Government’s priority has been to ensure schools can continue to operate as usual. To date, all schools have remained open and no significant issues have been reported. Schools affected already have robust contingency plans, and for many this may include transferring services in-house, or re-procuring with alternative providers. For schools that continue to receive services through the Official Receiver/Special Manager, any additional fees are yet to be finalised. The Department is working closely with the Cabinet Office, the Official Receiver and the Special Manager to ensure schools using the services provided through this arrangement are kept informed.Schools receive funding to pay for catering and facilities management services like the ones provided by Carillion. The Department expect them to continue to use this funding to pay for replacement services, but if any schools or trusts are concerned about their ability to manage these costs, they should contact the Department.

Children's Centres: Inspections

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the timetable is for Ofsted to resume inspections of children's centres.

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what information his Department holds on the number of children's centres which would have received a five year inspection before 31 December 2017 but did not as a result of his Department suspending such inspections in September 2015.

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, where the children's centres are which have not received a five-year inspection as a result of the suspension of inspections imposed in September 2015.

Nadhim Zahawi: Children’s centre inspections are suspended. There was widespread agreement at the time that they were not fit for purpose. As indicated in the letter of 25 September 2015 to HM Chief Inspector of Education, the Secretary of State for Education retains the ability to require Ofsted to undertake inspections and Ofsted itself retains the ability to inspect children’s centres if concerns are raised. The letter can also be viewed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sure-start-childrens-centre-inspections-sam-gyimah-letter. This suspension should not affect the normal activity of children’s centres and we expect them to continue their work to improve the outcomes for children and families in local areas. Registered early years provision within children’s centres will continue to be inspected by Ofsted as part of the Common Inspection Framework.  The department does not hold a list of children’s centres that have not received five-year inspections as a result of the suspension. However, this information can be derived from publicly available data. Records of Ofsted inspections of children’s centres and children’s centre groups carried out between 2010 and 2015, including a list of names and addresses and the date of the last inspection are at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/childrens-centres-statistics. Real-time data on the current list of children’s centres and children’s centre groups including names and address is supplied by local authorities via the Get Information about Schools (GIAS) database portal at: https://www.get-information-schools.service.gov.uk/.

Pre-school Education: Teachers

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the implications are for his Department's policies on the early years workforce of findings from the Nursery World and Save the Children survey on training and employing early years teachers, published on 22 January 2018.

Nadhim Zahawi: We have noted the publication of findings from the survey regarding early years teachers, conducted by Save the Children in collaboration with Nursery World, published on 22 January 2018. We continue to fund the 'Early Years Initial Teacher Training' programme, including bursaries and employer incentives.

Teachers: Recruitment

Tracy Brabin: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2018 to Question 123170, on what date the recruitment target for such teachers was dropped.

Nadhim Zahawi: As confirmed in our response to parliamentary question 123170, there are no targets for recruiting early years teachers in the workforce. This has always been a demand-led programme and we continue to make early years initial teacher training places available based on this basis.

Carillion

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2018 to Question 123193, which (a) local authorities and (b) academy trusts have contracts with Carillion for school support services; and for each such school what the type of service provided is.

Nick Gibb: The Department does not ordinarily collect information about procurement activity since local authorities and academy trusts are responsible for their own contracts. Information available to the department indicates that the number of local authority and academy trust schools covered by services contracts with Carillion is relatively low, and significantly lower than figures initially published on Carillion’s website. Schools affected already have robust contingency plans in operation and, for many, this may include transferring services in house, or re-procuring with alternative providers. We are working closely with the Official Receiver, Special Manager and local authorities to confirm the position.

Social Mobility Commission

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has ministerial responsibility for the Social Mobility Commission.

Nadhim Zahawi: My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has ministerial responsibility for the Social Mobility Commission.

Church Commissioners

Fracking

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Rt. Hon. Member for Meriden representing the Church Commissioners what the policy of the Church of England is on fracking on land owned by the Church of England.

Dame Caroline Spelman: All oil and gas deposits in the UK are owned by the Crown. There are no plans for the Church Commissioners to use its land or mineral rights for the purpose of fracking.As a policy, The Church Commissioners do not seek applications for seismic drilling/exploration and fracking. Allowing seismic testing/exploratory drilling does not imply approval of fracking, litigation risks arise for landowners should they wish to oppose a request to carry out geophysical surveys on their land. The Church Commissioners seek to minimise this risk.The Church Commissioners are responsible landowners and landlords and we seek to protect both our interests and those of our tenants. The Church does not have an official position on fracking and recognises it’s a controversial and evolving issue and people within the church hold a range of views. The Church of England issued a Briefing Paper on Shale Gas and Fracking in December 2016 which can be found here: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2017-11/shale-gas-and-fracking.pdf

Religion: Education

Rehman Chishti: To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, what discussions the Church of England has had with the Department for Education on ensuring that religious studies remains a priority in schools.

Dame Caroline Spelman: The Education Office of the Church of England is in regular dialogue with the Department for Education and is a member of the ‘Faith Providers’ group, which meets frequently with the Department to discuss a range of issues connected with schools of a religious character. One of the issues that the Office has raised in those discussions is the concern that Religious Education is not included within the EBacc.The Education Office has also submitted written and oral evidence to the Commission on Religious Education and, following the publication of its interim report, has discussed its findings with the Commissioners. The Education Office is part of a programme run by the Theos Think Tank, bringing together leading players in RE with officials from the Department for Education and also the Department of Housing, Communities and Local Government to discuss a range of issues including RE.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Trees: Conservation

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what studies his Department is conducting into the prospects for survival of the ash tree.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Defra’s programme of research on ash dieback has broadly focused on three areas: Impacts: Research into predicting the economic, social and environmental impacts of ash dieback in woodlands and the wider environment. Mitigation: We are conducting the world’s largest screening trials to identify disease tolerant trees, which raises the possibility of using selective breeding to develop strains of tolerant trees. We have also commissioned research to develop guidance for local authorities and landowners to mitigate the impacts of the diseaseBetter understanding of the disease: We have commissioned research to enhance our understanding of the disease including work on spread and disease progression.

Ash Dieback Disease

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of Ash Dieback on tree numbers in the UK; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The 2011 National Forestry Inventory estimated that there are 125.9 million ash trees in British woodlands (9% of the estimated 1.4 billion broadleaf trees in woodlands) and further research suggests that there are approximately 25-60 million ash trees in the wider environment (excluding 2 billion saplings). Evidence from continental Europe suggests that up to 90% of ash trees may become infected. As older trees can survive infection for a number of years and some trees may be tolerant to disease, we expect local effects on landscapes and woodlands to be gradual and mitigated by other tree species taking the place of ash. A proportion of ash trees will show natural tolerance to the disease and these trees are likely to repopulate sites, preserving the ash tree for future generations to enjoy.

Poultry: Antibiotics

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the potential health risks to humans of medicating poultry with fluoroquinolone antibiotics.

George Eustice: The Food Standards Agency (FSA) assesses the risk of acquiring Antimicrobial Resistance-related infections through the consumption and handling of contaminated poultry meat to be very low. Thorough cooking (and pasteurisation) will destroy bacteria present on food, including those that are resistant to some antibiotics. The FSA promotes the importance that good hygiene practices are in place to minimise the risk of infection and spread of AMR bacteria when handling raw meat. The use of antibiotics is one of the drivers for selection of resistance. Through its antibiotic stewardship programme, the UK meat poultry industry has significantly reduced the use of antibiotics including those of critical importance to public health. The British Poultry Council, who represents 90% of the meat poultry sector, reported a 72% reduction in the use of fluoroquinolones between 2012 and 2016.

Common Agricultural Policy: Scotland

Dr Lisa Cameron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress has been made on undertaking a review of the Common Agricultural Policy Convergence uplift since the meeting of 6 November 2017 with the Scottish Government's Cabinet Secretary for the Rural Economy and Connectivity.

George Eustice: Ministers and officials are in regular discussion with their Scottish counterparts on the future of agriculture policy after the UK has left the EU. Decisions on future funding arrangements will be taken by the Government drawing on representations from the devolved administrations. As we move to a new agriculture and land management policy that works for the whole of the UK, we have committed to ensure that all parts of the UK are treated fairly and that their individual circumstances are taken into account. On 23 October 2017, the member for Dumfries and Galloway wrote to the Secretary of State requesting a review of the funding allocations. We will set out next steps in due course.

Rabbits: Animal Welfare

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in ensuring protection for the welfare of domestic rabbits.

George Eustice: We have not carried out any specific assessment of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in relation to rabbits. However, when the 2006 Act was reviewed in 2010 and when the Parliamentary Select Committee on Environment, Food and Rural Affairs carried out its review “Animal Welfare in England: Domestic Pets” there were no specific recommendations made relating to rabbits. New regulations on the sale of pet animals including rabbits will include a requirement that all licensed sellers must provide information about the animals on sale. New guidance will accompany the new regulations which will provide minimum enclosure sizes for all licensed sellers of rabbits.

Potatoes: Migrant Workers

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of shortages of non-UK EU workers on the Jersey Royal potato crop yield.

George Eustice: The Bailiwick of Jersey is a Crown Dependency and is an autonomous, self-governing jurisdiction with its own legislature, administrative, fiscal and legal systems and its own courts of law. Topics relating to agriculture and immigration in Jersey are therefore a matter for the Government of Jersey. Jersey is part of the Common Travel Area. There is a high level of cooperation between Jersey and the UK on immigration matters.

Bees: Insecticides

Alex Chalk: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether his Department has made an assessment of the effect on the bee population of using Sulfoxaflor and Flupyradifurone as alternatives to Neonicotinoids.

George Eustice: Insecticides are only permitted for use if scientific risk assessments find no harmful effect on people and no unacceptable effects on the environment. Assessment and decision making for active substances takes place at EU level and sulfoxaflor and flupyradifurone were approved in 2015. Products containing approved active substances can only be used if authorised by the UK. No authorisation has been given to date for any product containing sulfoxaflor or flupyradifurone. The assessment of any application for such a product would include full consideration of the potential effects on bees.

Waste management: Recycling

Mrs Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent estimate he has made of the capacity of the UK’s waste recycling system.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The latest figures available for England in 2016 show that there were 2,782 recycling treatment facilities permitted managing 72.4 million tonnes of waste. There were also 2,420 metal recovery facilities managing 13.8 million tonnes of waste. The Government has signalled clear ambitions for resources efficiency in the Clean Growth Strategy, Industrial Strategy and 25 Year Environment Plan, which set out an ambition for zero avoidable waste by 2050. We are committed to supporting comprehensive and frequent waste and recycling collections which protect local amenity and ensure that products are recycled as much as possible. The Government is developing a new strategy on resources and waste to be published later this year.

Waste Management

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to release the next edition of UK Statistics on Waste; and if he will make a statement.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The next edition of UK Statistics on Waste is currently listed with a provisional release date of March 2018 and it is expected that a firm date will be confirmed this month. The publication date announcement can be found at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/announcements/uk-statistics-on-waste--2.

Electronic Training Aids: Dogs

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to ban the use of electronic training devices for dogs.

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment his Department has made of the effect of electronic training collars on dog welfare.

George Eustice: We have updated the statutory Code of Practice for the Welfare of Dogs (made under the Animal Welfare Act 2006), and strengthened the form of wording on the use of negative training methods. The draft code, which is currently before Parliament, makes it clear that any training method which includes physical punishment may cause pain, suffering and distress and could lead to aggressive responses and worsen the problems they aim to address.

Livestock: Antibiotics

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has plans to support a reduction in the use of antibiotics in the farming industry to reduce the risk of anti-microbial resistance.

George Eustice: In 2013 the Government published its Five-Year Antimicrobial Resistance Strategy, which aimed to improve the stewardship of existing antibiotics, improve infection prevention and control, and optimise prescribing practice.In 2016, as part of the Government’s response to the Independent Review on Antimicrobial Resistance, Defra committed to reduce sales of antibiotics for use in livestock by 20% to 50mg/kg by 2018. This target was met two years early. The latest data from 2016 shows that sales had fallen to 45mg/kg.Defra continues to work with the livestock industry to implement the ambitious sector specific targets published in October 2017 to promote further reduction in antibiotic use, underpinned by improvements in biosecurity, husbandry practices and disease prevention.

Poultry: Disease Control

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to increase biosecurity for poultry in Dorset and West Hampshire; and if he will make a statement.

George Eustice: An England-wide Avian Influenza Prevention Zone is currently in place which requires all captive bird keepers, including those of poultry and regardless of the size of the flock, to put enhanced biosecurity measures in place. Measures include feeding and watering birds indoors to minimise mixing with wild birds; minimising movement in and out of bird enclosures; cleaning and disinfecting footwear; and keeping areas where birds live clean and tidy. The Prevention Zone will be in place until further notice and will be kept under regular review as part of our work to monitor the threat of avian influenza.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Department for Exiting the European Union: Sick Leave

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many and what proportion of officials in his Department took sick leave for reasons relating to stress in the last 12 months; and what proportion of total sick leave in his Department that leave was.

Tom Brake: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many days sick leave officials in his Department took for reasons relating to stress in the 12 months.

Mr Steve Baker: We are not in a position to release this data as individuals may be identifiable due to fewer than 10 individuals being absent in the last 12 months due to stress or mental health conditions. Health and Wellbeing forms part of the Department for Exiting the European Union’s commitment to making the Department a great place to work. The Department has a dedicated mental health and wellbeing group who have been leading on a number of wellbeing activities across the Department to improve the physical and mental wellbeing of staff employed in the Department. DExEU, along with many other Government departments, has a programme in place that provides support and advice on wellbeing. These activities have included the Department signing up, in March 2017, to the Time for Change pledge to demonstrate the Department’s commitment to reducing the stigma attached to mental health. Additionally, to date, Mental Health First Aid England has trained 32 DExEU staff as mental health champions.

Brexit

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2018 to Question 122352, for what reasons he did not list the assessments conducted by the Market Access team in his Department on the effect of the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2018 to Question 122361, for what reasons he  did not state what information his Department plans to publish on the effect of the UK leaving the EU on different sectors of the economy in addition to that information released by his Department on 27 November 2017 before any Parliamentary vote on (a) the UK's withdrawal agreement or (b) a UK-EU trade deal.

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2018 to Question 122345, whether the Market Access and Budget Directorate is tasked with undertaking analytical studies into the economic effect of the UK leaving the EU.

Jo Platt: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 19 January 2018 to Question 122352, whether releasing the titles of all assessments undertaken by his Department's Market Access team on the UK leaving the EU would undermine the UK's negotiating position; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Robin Walker: The Department for Exiting the European Union is undertaking a wide range of analysis looking at the implications of UK withdrawal from the EU. As part of this, we have looked at 58 sectors of the economy, as set out in our response to the Lords EU External Affairs Sub-committee report “Brexit: Trade in Goods” which can be found at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201617/ldselect/ldeucom/129/129.pdf. The Market Access and Budget Directorate works closely with partners across Whitehall to facilitate and coordinate policy development on the UK's future economic partnership after we leave the EU. We have published 14 detailed papers on the negotiations to date and will continue to be as open as possible subject to the overwhelming national interest of preserving our negotiating position. It is not standard practice to provide a running commentary on ongoing analysis. 



Brexit: Trade in Goods
(PDF Document, 1.78 MB)

Energy: Conservation

Clive Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what recent discussions he has had with the (a) Chancellor of the Exchequer and (b) EU institutions on the rate of VAT on energy-saving materials.

Mr Robin Walker: The Secretary of State regularly meets members of the Cabinet and the EU institutions to discuss a wide range of policy issues.

Attorney General

Attorney General: Carers

Frank Field: To ask the Attorney General, whether his Department has a carer's policy for its employees; and what other steps his Department has taken to support employees with caring responsibilities.

Robert Buckland: The Attorney General’s Office (AGO), the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the Government Legal Department (GLD), the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) and Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate (HMCPSI) have no specific carer’s policy, but operate a number of policies that support employees with caring responsibilities, including flexible working, and opportunities for special leave and career breaks.In addition, and as part of encouraging diversity and inclusion within the organisation, GLD has set up a staff carers network that raises awareness of caring related issues across the Department and provides an additional source of support to those staff in the network. In the future, GLD, the AGO and HMCPSI will look to adopt the carers’ charter currently being developed by Civil Service Employee Policy, and introduce the carer’s passport so that people moving around the organisation for developmental or career reasons will be able to discuss and manage their situation with their new management in a more open and consistent manner.CPS offer advice and guidance from their ‘Employee Assistance’ providers and a member of the SFO’s senior management team has been appointed as a Flexible Working Champion to ensure that all staff are fully supported in any personal commitments, such as caring responsibilities and is establishing a group to help promote and embed the ideals of flexible working within the SFO.

Ministry of Justice

Reoffenders

Michael Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the number of reoffenders for each year since 2010.

Rory Stewart: Her Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service (HMPPS), does not calculate separately the annual cost of prisoners who have reoffended. However, recent studies show that reoffending costs £15 billion to society and we are committed to rehabilitating offenders to reduce reoffending and create fewer victims. We are clear that prisons must become places of discipline, hard work and self-improvement. Our reforms will help deliver a system that is focused on getting prisoners the education and training they need to live law-abiding lives when they are released.

Prisoners: Solitary Confinement

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the number of instances of a person with a diagnosed mental health condition has been held in solitary confinement within the secure estate in the last 12 months.

Dr Phillip Lee: Segregation is the removal from normal association under Prison Rules and in accordance with a process prescribed in policy. HMPPS does not hold prisoners in solitary confinement. Prisoners with a mental health condition may be segregated where this is assessed as being the most appropriate course of action. A prisoner whose mental health puts them at risk of self-harm may be segregated in exceptional circumstances only. Segregation policy sets out a range of safeguards to monitor and support the prisoner’s well-being including daily visits by a member of healthcare, visits from a doctor at least every three days and from mental health in-reach teams as necessary. Additional monitoring of the prisoner is determined in accordance with an assessment of individual need and the need for continued segregation is reviewed at least every 14 days. Information about segregated prisoners is held locally and regional offices receive quarterly reports from their prisons that identify any segregated prisoners who may have been segregated contrary to Healthcare advice relating to the prisoners mental health and wellbeing; this will not necessarily include information about prisoners with a diagnosis of a mental health condition where no healthcare objection to segregation was raised.

Prisoners: Solitary Confinement

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on people's mental health of being held in solitary confinement in prison or other penal institutions.

Dr Phillip Lee: Segregation is the removal of prisoners from normal association under Prison Rules and in accordance with a process prescribed in policy. Prisoners are segregated for the shortest time necessary to manage and address the reasons for their segregation and whilst segregated must have access to as normal a regime as possible. MoJ is aware of International evidence and learning about the potentially adverse effects on mental health that can result from solitary confinement. Whilst HMPPS does not hold prisoners in solitary confinement, this learning has been utilised in the development of safeguards in policy to protect the mental health and wellbeing of segregated prisoners. These safeguards include; completion by a doctor or registered nurse of an initial segregation health screen within two hours of a prisoner being segregated, daily visits by a member of healthcare and doctor visits at least every three days. In addition, a prisoner’s segregation must be reviewed at least every 14 days by a multi-disciplinary Segregation Review Board, chaired by an operational manager and with input from Healthcare, Psychology and mental health in-reach teams as necessary.

Employment Tribunals Service: Fees and Charges

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much money has been spent on employment tribunal fees since their introduction in 2013.

Lucy Frazer: The Government has collected £32m in Employment Tribunal fees since 2013. We immediately stopped charging fees following the Supreme Court’s judgment in July 2017, and the refund scheme was launched on 15 November 2017.

Employment Tribunals Service: Fees and Charges

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people (a) paid employment tribunal fees and (b) claimed a refund for employment tribunal fees since the introduction of those fees in 2013.

Lucy Frazer: The number of people who paid Employment Tribunal fees is not recorded centrally. However, statistics on the instances in which a fee is charged (for single and multiple claims) are published in the ‘Tribunals and Gender Recognitions Statistics Quarterly,’ available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics. The full refund scheme was rolled out on 15 November. Anyone who paid a fee can now apply for a refund. Provisional Management information on the number of refunds paid, and their value, was published on the 18 January 2018 on the gov.uk website, which showed as at 18 December we have made 2,151 refunds worth £1.8 million.

Employment Tribunals Service: Fees and Charges

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps the Government is taking to encourage people to reclaim their tribunal fees.

Lucy Frazer: The full Employment Tribunals Refund scheme was launched on 15 November 2017. Provisional Management information on the number of refunds paid, and their value, was published on the 18 January 2018 on the gov.uk website, which showed as at 18 December we have made 2,151 refunds worth £1.8 million. We will continue to keep the volume of applications we receive under review, and are considering whether any further measures may be needed to raise awareness of the scheme, so that everyone entitled to a refund is aware of the scheme and how to apply.

Prisons: Drugs

Crispin Blunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the rate of positive tests from mandatory drug testing in prisons in England and Wales was in each of the last ten years.

Rory Stewart: The information requested is published in the Annual NOMS Digest 2016/17, available at. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/annual-national-offender-management-service-digest-2016-to-2017   Select Supplementary Tables and MDT Data Tool > 07 Random Mandatory Drug Testing > Table 7.1

Ministry of Justice: Beverage Containers

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate has been made of the number of single use disposable cups that are (a) used each year and (b) sent for recycling by his Department.

Dr Phillip Lee: No estimate has been made of the department’s use of single use disposable cups that are used each year and sent for recycling. Staff and visitors are encouraged to dispose of waste appropriately and use recycling bins where it is appropriate to do so.

Carillion

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the letter from the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice to the Chair of the Justice Committee dated 28 February 2017, on prison safety and reform, if he will place in the Library a copy of the improvement plan for Carillion's delivery of prison maintenance services.

Rory Stewart: There are no plans to place a copy of the improvement plan for Carillion's delivery of prison maintenance services.

Prisons: Repairs and Maintenance

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff in his Department worked on monitoring the delivery of contracts for prison maintenance by private sector companies in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017.

Rory Stewart: The number of staff working (by Full Time Equivalent) on monitoring the delivery of contracts for prison maintenance by private sector companies is as follows:a) 2015: 95b) 2016: 98c) 2017: 97

Prisons: Repairs and Maintenance

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the staffing cost was for teams in his Department with responsibility for monitoring the delivery of contracts for prison maintenance by private sector companies in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017.

Rory Stewart: Staffing costs for the teams in the Department with responsibility for monitoring the delivery of contracts for prison maintenance by private sector companies is as follows:2015: £2,491k2016: £4,471k2017: £4,438kPlease note that the Amey and Carillion prison maintenance contracts didn’t commence delivery until June 2015.

Carillion

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times representatives from his Department met with representatives of Carillion to discuss contracts for prison maintenance in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017.

Rory Stewart: Representatives of the Department at all levels involved in the monitoring of delivery of contracts for prison maintenance meet with Carillion on a frequent basis. This includes weekly meetings at an operational site level through to at least monthly meetings at a leadership level. Leadership teams also met to discuss specific issues and such meetings have been more frequent over the past 18 months. We do not hold a record of the number of total number of meetings.

Carillion

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many times his Department issued letters of concern to Carillion on its delivery of contracts for prison maintenance in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017.

Rory Stewart: Formal concerns about issues with the delivery of the contract were are issued through the Early Warning Notice and Defect provisions as laid out in the NEC3 standard form of contract which is employed for prison maintenance. A formal letter of concern was issued in 2016 to advise Carillion of performance failures. A performance action plan was put in place to address these failings and some improvements were made. This process was subsequently subsumed into a wider service improvement initiative.

Carillion

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will place a copy in the Library of any reports produced by his Department on the effectiveness of the delivery of contracts by Carillion for prison maintenance works in (a) 2016 and (b) 2017.

Rory Stewart: There are no plans to place a copy in the library of any reports produced by the MoJ on the effectiveness of the delivery of contracts by Carillion for prison maintenance works.

Prisons: Repairs and Maintenance

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what changes to contracts were agreed between his Department and private sector companies contracted to provide prison maintenance after his Department confirmed in July 2017 that the contracts would not deliver the savings budgeted for.

Rory Stewart: The Department has been undertaking a significant continuous improvement initiative in collaboration with both Carillion and Amey since May 2017. The aim was to make improvements to the systems, processes and practices that exist within the FM environment of prisons to deliver service and productivity improvements. To date no changes to contracts have been made as a consequence of this initiative

Prisons: Repairs and Maintenance

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the reasons that the contracts with private sector companies to deliver prison maintenance did not achieve the savings budgeted for as announced by his Department in July 2017.

Rory Stewart: There was an underestimation of the historical costs of maintenance and services, which meant that more of the award has been spent on maintenance and services rather than efficiency savings. We assess the major elements of financial risk within the contract lie in asset verification, asset condition, service verification and variable costs. Actions have been taken within each area. They have ensured clarity on financial risk and have allowed negotiated settlements to be reached that reflect true contractual costs. Appropriate governance has been put in place that ensures that variable costs are accurately reported and justified and that claims are assured by the Contract Management team. Governors are focused on the management and reduction of vandalism and damage within their establishments supporting this cost reduction. All actions and improved contract management assurance has ensured that historic and future additional costs are accurate and appropriate.

Carillion

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many meetings were held with Carillion and his Department to discuss the plan agreed with Carillion to improve their delivery of prison maintenance services between September 2016 and February 2017.

Rory Stewart: Steering Groups were held initially weekly and then fortnightly between HMPPS and Carillion Leadership to track and monitor their improvement plan, and were attended by Senior Leaders across the department.

Prisons: Repairs and Maintenance

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what research his Department has undertaken into the effectiveness of prison maintenance services being carried out in House, and if he will place that research in the Library.

Rory Stewart: An independent review of the service was undertaken in early 2017 which was used to support several improvement initiatives. There are no plans to place the information in the library as the report contains commercially sensitive information.

Prisons: Repairs and Maintenance

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of prison maintenance services being carried out in-house.

Rory Stewart: An independent review of the service was undertaken in early 2017, which was used to support several improvement initiatives. We are currently working with the Official Receiver to ensure the continuation of prison maintenance services, whilst we finalise the timing of implementation of our contingency plans.

Immigration: Appeals

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many immigration appeals at tribunal have been successful; and how many of those appeals were within six months, for each of the last three years.

Lucy Frazer: The number of appeals allowed in the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) over the last three years is: 2014/2015 – 26,394; 2015/2016 – 20,539 and 2016/2017 – 23,275. Timescales from receipt to disposal of an appeal are not routinely broken down by outcome and could not be provided in the time available.

Liverpool Prison

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he plans to publish his Department's action plan for HMP Liverpool.

Rory Stewart: HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) undertook an inspection of HMP Liverpool on 4-15 September 2017. The report of that inspection and the corresponding action plan were published on Friday 19 January. The plan sets out our actions to respond to issues which the inspectorate has raised. The action plan along with the HMIP inspection report for HMP Liverpool can be found on prison finder at http://www.justice.gov.uk/contacts/prison-finder/liverpool

Ministry of Justice: Procurement

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many contracts his Department holds with Government strategic suppliers.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Ministry of Justice currently holds 85 contracts with Government Strategic Suppliers.

Birmingham Prison: Civil Disorder

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will publish the report of Sarah Payne into the riot at HMP Birmingham in December 2016.

Rory Stewart: The investigation into the disturbance at HMP Birmingham was concluded in early 2017. We have considered its findings and have taken any necessary actions arising from them. We do not intend to publish the report. We have robust processes in place to closely monitor and manage privately managed prison providers, ensuring that they are providing a safe and secure environment and delivering value for money to the taxpayer. We will not hesitate to take action if and when standards fall short.

Ministry of Justice: Contracts

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment his Department has made of the financial viability of all those companies with which it has contracts.

Rory Stewart: A review of the financial stability of contractors is an integral part of both the tendering of new contracts and continued contract management undertaken by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The financial viability of suppliers is checked during the tendering process and once a contract is awarded, the MoJ will review the Supplier's financial circumstances on a regular basis to ensure that these have not significantly changed.

Carillion

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department took in response to reports issued between 2015 and 2017 by Independent Monitoring Boards on Carillion's execution of prison maintenance contracts.

Rory Stewart: Each IMB report which flags up concerns on the estate has been reviewed by the HMPPS National Service Management Team who have provided information on the action being taken to address some of the issues highlighted and this has been fed back into the official responses from HMPPS. Where the issues highlighted are to do with Carillion performance these concerns have fed in through either the performance reviews held regularly at site or if necessary escalated through meetings with senior leaders from both organisations. In some instances, the concerns when investigated have related to the requirement for investment in assets which is not a responsibility of the maintenance contractors, but is managed through the internal asset investment process which decides how limited funds can be allocated to operational and maintenance priorities.

Carillion

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department put in place any qualitative targets to monitor Carillion’s performance in delivering prison maintenance services.

Rory Stewart: The performance mechanism within the Carillion contracts contains 16 key performance indicators. These employ a mix of both quantitative and qualitative measures to monitor Carillion’s performance in delivering prison maintenance services.

Ministry of Justice: Carillion

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department signed any new or renewed contracts with Carillion for any services in the last 12 months.

Rory Stewart: The Department has not signed any new or renewed contracts with Carillion for any services in the last 12 months.

Carillion

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice of 15 September 2016, Official Report, Column 475WH,  whether a meeting with Carillion was held; and what methods his Department subsequently used to monitor Carillion’s performance.

Rory Stewart: Minister Gyimah met with Carillion on 11 October 2016 to express dissatisfaction and made clear that significant performance improvement was required before the end of December 2016. An improvement plan was established, overseen by a weekly Joint Steering Group. Key milestones were identified, together with a high level dashboard tracking success factors. The development of alternative commercial options was also planned to inform a strategic decision about the future of Carillion as an FM provider in January 2017.

Government Departments: Contracts

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking (a) individually and (b) with other Departments to ensure that major contractors are financially able to deliver their contracted services and projects.

Rory Stewart: a) A review of the financial stability of contractors is an integral part of both the tendering of new contracts and continued contract management undertaken by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). The financial viability of suppliers is checked during the tendering process and once a contract is awarded, the MoJ will review the Supplier's financial circumstances on a regular basis to ensure that these have not significantly changed. b) Where a supplier is categorised as a Crown Commercial Service Strategic Supplier, MoJ work closely with the Crown Commercial Service to ensure the continued financial stability of the supplier.

Women with Particular Vulnerabilities in the Criminal Justice System Review

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress his Department is making on implementation of the recommendations of the Corston Report on women with particular vulnerabilities in the criminal justice system, published in March 2017.

Dr Phillip Lee: The Government accepted 40 out of the 43 recommendations of Baroness Corston’s Review of Women with Particular Vulnerabilities in the Criminal Justice System and progress has been made in part or fully against these. In recognition of the distinct needs of female offenders, we are developing a female offender strategy to improve outcomes for women in the community and in custody. This will build on the principles set out in Baroness Corston’s report.

Sentencing: Females

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of women who have received a custodial prison sentence have had children under the age of 18 at the time of their sentencing in each of the last five years.

Dr Phillip Lee: This information is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost. We recognise the impact that imprisonment has on the offender and their families, particularly children. Work is ongoing to improve the quality of information that sentencers receive about community sentencing options and to ensure that sentencers are made aware and can take account of whether an offender is a primary carer or has been pregnant or given birth within the last 6 months. We will shortly be setting out our strategy for female offenders, to improve outcomes for women in the community and in custody. This will include women with young children, babies and other caring responsibilities.

Reoffenders: Females

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what information his Department holds on the recidivism rates for female prisoners who have received (a) custodial prison sentences and (b) community supervision orders in each year for which data is available.

Rory Stewart: We are committed to doing all we can to address the issues around female offending so we can better protect the public and deliver more effective rehabilitation. That is why we plan to set out a strategy for female offenders, to improve outcomes and services for women in both the community and custody The table below shows the proven reoffending data for adult females released from custody or receiving community orders between January 2011 and December 2015. As it shows, reconviction rates have remained relatively stable across this period.New Data Source Jan - Mar 2011Apr - Jun 2011Jul - Sep 2011Oct - Dec 2011Jan - Mar 2012Apr - Jun 2012Jul - Sep 2012Oct - Dec 2012Jan - Mar 2013Apr - Jun 2013Jul - Sep 2013Oct - Dec 2013Jan - Mar 2014Apr - Jun 2014Jul - Sep 2014Oct - Dec 2014Jan - Mar 2015Apr - Jun 2015Jul - Sep 2015 Oct - Dec 2015Custody Proportion of offenders who reoffend (%)48.549.147.648.248.249.251.149.150.549.850.452.452.052.552.253.253.751.253.6 53.2Community Orders1  Proportion of offenders who reoffend (%)33.531.933.532.832.131.731.532.033.434.234.634.431.931.831.431.929.730.532.0 31.3Notes 1. Community Orders were introduced in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 and came into force from April 2005. "-" indicates that data is not available for January - March 2005.2. These figures have been derived from administrative IT systems, which as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.3. A proven reoffence is defined as any offence committed in a one year follow-up period that leads to a court conviction, caution, reprimand or warning in the one year follow-up or within a further six month waiting period to allow the offence to be proven in court.4. Number of offenders in each disposal category do not sum to the total number of offenders. This is due to a difference in methodology to provide a realistic and relevant view of proven reoffending by disposal type. The first event within each disposal is taken as the start point. Therefore, some offenders will appear in more than one disposal category.5. From October 2015 onwards, reoffending data are collected using different data sources to previous quarters. January to March 2005 is the earliest quarter for which proven reoffending data exists, however the quarters before October 2015 are not directly comparable to those after.

Marriage: Humanism

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, further to the Answer of 16 January 2018 to Questions 117291 and 117292, what the range of issues are that the Government would be required to consider carefully before deciding whether to amend the existing law on marriage to make provision for legally valid humanist ceremonies.

Lucy Frazer: The range of issues that the Government would be required to consider can be found in the Government response to the consultation on marriages by non-religious belief organisations. This response was published in 2014 and is available at gov.uk.

Crime: Victims

Gloria De Piero: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people have joined the victim contact scheme in each of the last four years; and what proportion of eligible people that number represents in each of those years.

Dr Phillip Lee: The information requested by the hon Member for Ashfield, Gloria De Piero, is not available. The current national victim’s database was only introduced in April 2016 and data migration of active cases from previous databases was not fully completed until February 2017. Data currently held on the national victim’s database indicates that the proportion of eligible victims who have opted into the Victim Contact Scheme is approximately 46%.

Scotland Office

Scotland Office: Ministerial Powers

Jon Trickett: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many ministerial directions were issued to his Department in (a) 2015, (b) 2016 and (c) 2017.

David Mundell: No ministerial directions were issued to my Department in those years.

Carillion: Scotland

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, what steps he is taking to ensure that major public sector construction projects in Scotland held by Carillion will still proceed as planned.

David Mundell: The UK Government has instructed the Official Receiver to maintain public services across the UK. Those public services which are provided in Scotland by Carillion through contracts with devolved bodies are for the relevant devolved bodies to oversee. The UK and Scottish Governments are in close contact at all levels, and are working together constructively.

Scotland Office: Carillion

Marion Fellows: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many meetings (a) Ministers and (b) officials of his Department have had with representatives of (i) Carillion and (ii) Carillion subsidiaries since January 2017; who attended those meetings; and what was discussed at each such meeting.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office has no contracts with Carillion or its subsidiaries. Ministers and officials of the Scotland Office have had no meetings with representatives of (i) Carillion and (ii) Carillion subsidiaries in those capacities since January 2017.

Scotland Office: Beverage Containers

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many disposable coffee cups were purchased by his Department in each of the last five years.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office does not have any in-house canteen or coffee shop facilities, and as such, no disposable coffee cups were purchased in each of the last five years.

Scotland Office: Carillion

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether he had any discussions with Keith Cochrane at meetings of the Joint Management Board of the Scotland Office on the financial health of Carillion.

David Mundell: No.

Scotland Office: Keith Cochrane

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, how many meetings he had with Keith Cochrane during his term as a member of the Joint Management Board of his Department.

David Mundell: Keith Cochrane attended nine meetings of the Joint Management Board between December 2015 and December 2017.

Scotland Office: Carillion

Ged Killen: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, whether Keith Cochrane in his role on the (a) Joint Management Board of his Department or (b) Government Network of non-Executive directors raised the prospect of a Government bail-out of Carillion.

David Mundell: No.

Cabinet Office

Children: Social Services

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, which reports or reviews have been commissioned or conducted by his Department in respect of the number of looked after children or children subject to child protection or child in need plans.

Mr David Lidington: The Cabinet Office supports the Prime Minister by tracking the delivery of the Government's programme​. This includes working with departments to track the number of looked after children or children subject to child protection or child in need plans.​

Cabinet Office: Departmental Responsibilities

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to responsibilities of the Minister for the Constitution, what the term knowledge management refers to.

Chloe Smith: In the context of the responsibilities for the Minister for the Constitution, Knowledge Management refers to the Cabinet Office’s responsibilities for government record keeping and information management systems.

Carillion

Sir Vince Cable: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of Carillion’s compliance with the Prompt Payment Code.

Oliver Dowden: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Carillion

Jon Trickett: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the terms in Carillion’s contracts with the Government were in respect of that company's possible liquidation.

Oliver Dowden: Since January 2011, details of central government contracts above the value of £10,000 are published on Contracts Finder. Contracts published prior to 26 February 2015 can be viewed at:https://data.gov.uk/data/contracts-finder-archive Those published after 26 February 2015 can be viewed at:https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Search

Life Expectancy

Dr David Drew: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will list the constituencies where average life expectancy is lower now than in 2010.

Dr David Drew: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the primary causes of mortality are in constituencies where the average life expectancy for males is less than 68 years and for females is less than 70 years.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response 
(Word Document, 108.78 KB)

Cabinet Office: Keith Cochrane

Ged Killen: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, how many meetings with Ministers Keith Cochrane attended in his role on the Government Network of non-Executive directors.

Mr David Lidington: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Carillion

Bill Esterson: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 18 January 2018 to Question 122773, on Carillion, how many of the 450 contracts with Government were (a) being delivered on schedule, (b) the subject of cost overruns and (c) the subject of unexpected delays.

Oliver Dowden: The Cabinet Office has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

House of Commons Commission

Parliamentary Estate: Waste Management

Dr David Drew: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what percentage of parliamentary waste was (a) recycled and (b) incinerated in the most recent period for which data is available.

Tom Brake: In the calendar year of 2017, Parliament recycled 48.8% (937,854 kg) of waste. Parliament recovered 13.4% (253,056 kg) of waste, which is a process that applies to food waste, treated to produce methane fuel for energy generation with the solid residues used as soil improver.In the same timeframe, Parliament incinerated 36.7% (691,464 kg) of waste at an ‘energy from waste facility’. No waste from the Parliamentary Estate goes to landfill.

House of Commons: Catering

Dr David Drew: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, what plans the Commission has to increase the range of food available for both vegetarians and vegans in catering facilities in the House.

Tom Brake: Catering services provide a wide choice of dishes to cater for vegans and vegetarians throughout the estate. Menus are changed on a regular basis to provide variety and to reflect seasonality. There has also been an increase in the number of choices for vegans and vegetarians across our venues in recent years.We gather customer suggestions and feedback through regular surveys and through our customer feedback email address. This assists us with our menu planning and to improve our offers and dishes on our menus where possible.There are no specific plans to increase the range of food available to vegans and vegetarians. In 2017, all cafeterias supported National Vegetarian Week (15 to 19 May) and World Vegan Month (in November) where we promote and further offer a selection of dishes to our customers. Catering services will continue to promote these in 2018.

House of Commons: Cleaning Services

Diana Johnson: To ask the right hon. Member for Carshalton and Wallington, representing the House of Commons Commission, which company has been contracted to carry out cleaning work on the ceiling of Westminster Hall; and what archaeological supervision has been provided to supervise that cleaning work.

Tom Brake: Work is currently underway in Westminster Hall to complete phase three of the conservation programme. This includes: the refurbishment of the lantern; removing the extensive dust deposits from the roof timbers; minor repairs to the interior of the roof to stabilize decorative elements and tracery; fire protection improvements; and new lighting.The principal contractor for the programme is Mitie, who have in turn subcontracted the refurbishment of the lantern, cleaning of dust deposits and the minor repairs to the heritage and conservation specialists, DBR Limited. The programme of work is supervised by heritage architects Donald Insall Associates.There is a large body of academic material on the Hall already available, with principal studies conducted between 1854 and 2016. Both information from this, together with extensive condition surveys, have been used as the basis for the specification for the current work and any further survey in this regard would be of no evident value to Parliament. It should be noted that the roof is an example of ‘standing archaeology’ – that is, it will be accessible for the foreseeable future as it has been in the past. The obligation to record the repairs and to deposit the records in the archives will be undertaken by the consultant conservation architect (Donald Insall Associates), specialist conservators, the in-house Architecture & Heritage team and Historic England. This information will be made available to interested parties and therefore no further archaeological supervision is necessary.I have sent the hon. Lady a copy of the list of references to studies of the roof, and placed a copy in the Library.



References to studies of Westminster Hall Roof
(PDF Document, 131.09 KB)